Who Gives a Fic?
by Punkpoet69
Summary: Gabriella just lost her best friend. She's feels hopeless and not sure she has what it takes to finish their online Fanfiction. But when she hears a rumor that Troy Bolton hooked up with her at the bonfire she becomes his fake girlfriend in order to: A. Save him from a beating. B. Get his crazy ex off his back. C. Save her reputation. Can something so fake turn into something real?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the High School Musical world, which is trademarked by Disney. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of High School Musical. The story I tell here about Troy and Gabriella is my own invention, and it is not supported or believed to be part of Disney story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.**

 **Extra Disclaimer: This story is about a writer who writes Fan Fiction for a "Disney Movie" called Maybe This Time. That is a made up fandom by yours truly that is similar to the HSM fandom. The main characters are Michael Hilton and Lauren Hernandez. Please note that inspired by the story FanGirl there will be parts of that fanfic intertwined with this one.**

 _"So, where are you going in the fall?" Michael asked drumming his thumbs against the wheel._

 _"Purdue University."_

 _"Interesting."_

 _Liar._

 _No way was she bonding with him. Shifting in her seat she turned her head so she could get a small whiff of her chamomile oil._

 _They'd been driving for only half an hour without a word to each other. There was not one thing about her that Michael found interesting. He was probably just thinking about Alyssa and Jackie's bikini collection. He wasn't remotely interested in her college decisions._

 _Boys like Michael didn't think about her, period. It's not like they had anything in common. He was a few months older, and while he hung out with jocks who lettered in varsity, she geeked out in Harry Potter and anything English Lit._

 _She'd circled the drain about Purdue for a while. At first the idea of applying to college seemed almost impossible. Affording it. Leaving her aunt. The only family she knew._

 _She never talked about where she came from with anyone, never mentioned her parents or her life before she came to Nevada. What was the point? It wouldn't have changed anything. Growing up with a famous father, whatever the reasons, taught her that the less you told people about yourself the less they could use against you._

 _"Are you excited?" Michael adjusted his arm on the steering wheel._

 _Lauren rolled her eyes as she fingered the bottom of her braid looking out the window. Deciding to change the subject she let out a breath, "Haven't seen you around church lately?"_

 _"So?"_

 _Lauren glanced over at him, his left arm hanging out the van as he drove, "Why haven't you gone?"_

 _"Because my father doesn't leash me to the podium," Michael huffed as he flipped the left turning signal._

 _"That's nice. Now tell me why you really dislike church so much?"_

 _Michael shook his head, "I don't go, okay?"_

 _"Why?"_

 _He shook his head harder. "It's a long story."_

 _"I think we've got plenty of time."_

 _"You wouldn't understand.'_

 _"I'd probably understand more than you think."_

 _Michael laughed. "I doubt it."_

 _Lauren shook her head. "Why am I really here?" At that he looked guilty. "Did your dad make you invite me?"_

 _"What?" His shock was pure façade. "As if you being here isn't punishment enough now you're giving me a hard time because I was just trying to make conversation."_

 _Her lashes fell, screening her eyes as she thought about his answer._

 _"I didn't mean to imply that spending time with you is a punishment," he clarified. "You're just not my first choice as a riding companion," he winced, "I mean-"_

 _"Michael," she interrupted. "I'm not offended. You're not my first choice either."_

 _-Chapter 2, Cashing Into You by Jabriella_

Gabriella parked her yellow Volkswagen Bug in the student parking lot and had barely stepped out of the car when her roommate pounced on her.

"You slept with Troy Bolton?" Taylor jumped up and down in her brown, furry Uggs.

"What?" Everyone in the parking lot turned and stared. _Okay, maybe she'd said that a little loud_. "I haven't slept with anyone."

"Not according to the word on campus." Taylor beamed proudly. "Everyone's talking about it. They're saying you guys hooked up at the bonfire. This is so exciting."

"Taylor, you know I spent the weekend at my dad's house." Gabriella moved towards her backseat as she pulled out a box of things. "You of all people should know I wasn't there."

As if the sudden truth washed over her she pouted and kicked at some of the gravel. "Well, I thought maybe you snuck back for a while."

"Why do you sound so disappointed?"

"It would be nice if one of us had a sex life."

Gabriella let out a laugh as she kicked the door shut. "Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. My life is as boring as ever."

Taylor shrugged her shoulders, "That's not true. You're the talk of the school."

And that's when Gabriella noticed the few girls standing off to the side. Whispering and pointing. Just what she needed at the start of her second semester. Gossip. "Maybe it will blow over."

"Maybe," Taylor crossed her arms over her chest as she followed Gabriella up the stairs. "Maybe by lunch everyone will be talking about someone else."

Not likely. How could people believe some silly rumor? Better question. Why would Troy Bolton start a rumor about her? He was a gorgeous, popular, country-club golden boy known for organizing the Golf-a-thon charity event to help raise money for cancer research since his freshmen year. He was a year older, they didn't even run in the same circles.

"What's in the box?"

"Some of Jenny's things." Gabriella said as they started making their way towards the dormitory.

"How was it?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Her mom was nice. She gave me this box things Jenny wanted me to have."

Taylor apologized again. She'd been apologizing since Gabriella got the news. Everyone did it. _Sorry for your lost. So sorry to hear that. I'm sorry. Our condolences. We send our love._ She'd heard it all. Her Facebook was filled with sorry messages. Jenny page was swamped with them. All those loving messages from all those people who had no idea who Jenny was.

It felt like she'd known Jenny forever. Their friendship had been bigger than anyone expected. Gabriella let out a small sigh, five years ago Jenny sent her an email for the first time. That was three years before Jenny got sick.

Jabriella had been Jenny's idea.

They created her in a combination of both of their names. Jabriella was their fan fiction pen name. They wrote stories for the fandom of Disney's original movie, Maybe This Time. It was a movie about two totally different teenagers who meet at a party, Michael Hilton and Lauren Hernandez. One week later Michael goes back to his high school, Rigdon High, in California to find that Lauren is a new student there. They quickly become close friends and accidentally end up on the prom committee together. It was a classic story of two people, who had nothing in common and had everything to learn from each other.

Gabriella's favorite movie. Even now just thinking about it, put a small smile on her lips. It always did.

Sure, sometimes people drift in and out of fandoms, they outgrow their favorite character and sometimes they just pick up other topics to write about just like they drift in and out of any other hobby or interest. But sometimes Gabriella felt like she was in it for life.

There were so many times Jenny thought she was "done" with fan fiction, when really she just hadn't been inspired in a while.

Gabriella always figured that when she went to college or even into her twenties that the desire to use _Maybe This Time_ as an outlet would eventually fade, not even close. She was still deeply emerged in working on stories of her own along with the ones she wrote with Jenny. They exchanged chapters all the time. Gabriella would edit Jenny's work and Jenny would always add that whimsical hope and magic to Gabriella's.

Only they never posted anything Gabriella wrote and that was all because Gabriella didn't believe any of it was good enough. So they always worked on Jenny's pieces the most.

Jabriella was huge. When they'd started this adventure together Jenny and Gabriella hadn't been expecting it to be as big as it became. It seemed like in a years' time the girls went from getting five hundred hits per chapter to five thousand.

Gabriella tried to keep up with comments and questions as much as she could. But there was no doubt about it. Jabriella wasn't just telling stories to friends and family anymore. Not that any of her friends and family ever really read anything she wrote. Gabriella never really told anyone about Jabriella.

Jabriella had an audience, a following. All these people she didn't know, who expected things from them and questioned their decisions. Sometimes they even turned against them. People would trash Jabriella on their fan-sites, saying she wasn't as good as she use to be, that her endings where horrible, her stories dragged on, the characters were too canny, not original enough, not likeable.

But, for every bad review seven good ones seemed to follow.

Gabriella felt closer to Jenny than she'd felt to anyone. They were Math Club buddies, Facebook friends, Instagram friends and twitter friends and fan fiction partners.

Then Jenny got sick.

Jenny had a case of Chronic bronchitis. If you have chronic bronchitis, the lining of the lungs' airways are red and swollen. Over time, the airways become narrow and partly clogged with mucus that cannot be cleared. Chronic bronchitis is a type of Chronic Obstructed Pulmonary Disease, COPD.

These last three weeks after Jenny's death had been hard.

Jabriella hadn't posted.

Gabriella stopped writing.

And now a rumor?

"So," Taylor sat down on her bed as she watched Gabriella put the box of Jenny's things on her desk. "What are we going to do about Troy?"

"What do mean, we?"

"Please, like I'd abandon you now. We can't just let him get away with telling everyone that you guys hooked up?"

"What am I supposed to do about that?"

Taylor stood up, "You have to set the record straight."

"How?" Gabriella tossed her purse off to the side and fell onto her bed where she laid back and stared at the ceiling. Rationally, she knew she should be angry about the rumor that made it sound like her name and number would soon be scrawled on the boys' bathroom wall. Her reputation, not that she had much of one, was at stake.

Try as she might to care. She just didn't.

She had other things to think about.

Like Jabriella. Their last story was still in progress. Their inbox was flooded with emails demanding the next chapter. Gabriella wasn't sure if she had it in her to shut down the account. She wasn't ready to close the door on the last five years.

What other choice did she have?

"I'm going to take a nap."

Taylor's mouth fell open. "Seriously."

Gabriella shifted into her sheets her eyes falling easily, for a moment she allowed herself to fantasize that Troy started the rumor due to his overwhelming crush on her. _Yeah. Right._ She'd been the one secretly lusting after him since her sophomore year, just like every other female in a fifty-mile radius.

Later that evening she woke up again and found the room empty. Taylor must have been disappointed with her lack of excitement. Her eyes landed on the box of Jenny's things. _Not. Ready._ There was something about the idea of routing around through Jenny's things that just didn't seem right.

Sitting up she stretched out and faintly heard her stomach rumble in hunger. She should at least get something to eat from the vending machine downstairs. Without another thought she tucked her tousled behind her eyes and grabbed her wallet. She made her way downstairs where a few people were already hanging out in the multipurpose room.

The smell of pizza made her stomach clench. She should walk over to the student center and get an actual meal. She immediately slowed down when she rounded the corner towards the vending machine.

There he was, wearing a crisp blue shirt and khakis. She felt underdressed in her Levi's and the black _Talk Nerdy to Me_ sweatshirt she'd thrown on this morning before leaving her dads.

His brown hair, broad shoulders and perpetual tan seem to make him even more God like. Seriously, how on earth was he able to convince anyone that they would engage in any kind of relation that didn't involve the terms, do you want fries with that, or can I take your order.

He was talking to his friend Chad. Where Troy had the whole tan, blond-ish, blue-eyed thing going on, Chad was fair with dark hair and dark eyes. They looked like opposite sides of the same coin. A really hot, totally unreachable coin that a collector would keep in a special locked case, which normal girls like her were not allowed to touch.

Troy glanced up at her entry and smiled. It wasn't a one those _hey you_ smiles, just one of those nods of acknowledgement smiles. How rude of a greeting for someone you're supposed to be sleeping with. It was probably the first time he'd ever noticed her. Not that Gabriella wasn't attractive. It was just that boys like him normally dated girls with bigger boobs than her head.

 _Just ignore him._

Gabriella wiped her hand on the front of her pants as she watched her reflection looking back at her in the vending machines dim lighting. She had other things to think about than Troy Bolton. She still needed to get ready for tomorrow. Her first class was at noon. American Sign Language. A sad ping went off in her heart.

It was Jenny's idea to learn sign. Sometimes after all the coughing fits and mucus build up she hadn't wanted to talk. So they learned to sign. She wondered now if maybe she should just pull out of the class.

D2. The tip of her finger felt numb. The machine came to life and the coils began to turn. Then nothing.

"You stupid piece of crap," Gabriella banged on the Plexiglas as she watched her bag of M&M's shift from the coil, but not fall. "Come on."

She didn't need this. Not tonight. She pushed her think black frame glasses up her nose and crossed her arms over her chest. That's it, maybe she could stop her foot too, really show the vending machine whose was boss.

Was it too much to ask for? Just one thing to go right this evening. Even if it was just a lousy bag of chocolate covered peanuts. She banged on the machine again.

Nothing.

The bag just leaned against the glass, suspended in chocolate purgatory.

"You're an evil machine," she said pointedly as she stared at her faded refection. She was a desperate woman. Fighting with a vending machine on a perfectly good Sunday night, for a bag of chocolate. "Don't make me unplug you," she said giving the machine another push.

It stood motionless. Unaffected by her push.

"Nice one."

She jerked as the voice behind her caught her off guard. His blue eyes widen at her reaction and he quickly held up his hands in surrender. Gabriella's shoulders slumped, it was just him.

"Sorry," he said realizing he startled her. "Troy," he held out his hand.

"Right." Gabriella nodded, trying to look angry rather than curious, she did her best hands on her hip maneuver. "I know who you are." For extra emphasis she threw in a glare. "Why are you telling people we hooked up after the bonfire?"

His eyes widen as they roamed from her dark hair down to her pink hello kitty socks and then back up again. "Who're you?"

"I'm Gabriella Montez."

He shook his head. "The Gabriella I hooked up with has blond and red hair."

Gabriella's hands detached from her hips. "Oh," she thought for a moment before she had the courage to look up at him again. "Gabriella Hernandez has blond hair with red streaks in it." She held her hand up six inches above her head. "She's about this tall and wears a lot of makeup."

"That's her," Troy confirmed. "She said her name was Gabriella Montez."

That made no sense. "Why would she use my name?"

"I have no idea." Troy watched her quietly for moment his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yo Bolton." A familiar voice boomed through the rec room and caused both of them to jump. "Been looking for you douche bag."

They both turned to see the very woman in question hand in hand with a guy who looked familiar. Huge didn't even begin to describe him. He could have doubled for a pro-wrestler.

In an unexpected move, Troy reached for her hand and pulled her to his side. "Play along. We'll straighten this out later."

Great jumping house cats. He was touching her. It almost felt like she'd won some sort of geek girl lottery. Taylor would probably die when she found out she missed this.

"Hey Gabi," The other Gabriella winked at her. "Luis came back from his cage fighting match this morning, and we got back together." She held out her left hand. "Look at my promise ring he gave, isn't totally rocking."

 _Gabi?_ Gabriella looked at the ring on her finger. It was nice for a black band with a red and silver heart-shaped stones on it. How the hell had people confused her for this woman. "It looks nice."

"Anyway," she laughed, "someone told Luis I hooked up with Troy after the bonfire. Isn't that ridiculous?"

 _Imagine that._

Luis came up to Troy until he was toe to toe with him. "Why are people saying they saw you with my girl?"

Troy kept his cool and chuckled. "Do I look that stupid?"

She bit her lip to stop the automatic answer from coming out. Her remarks probably wouldn't be welcomed right about now. After another awkward moment passed she let out a sigh. "We do have the same first name."

Luis turned his attention to Gabriella and it was like he just now registered her standing there and she did everything she could not to look nervous.

"You were in my English Literature class."

 _Another mystery solved._ She nodded.

"You hook up with him at Friday night?" he asked jerking his head towards Troy.

Good lord. "Yeah. That was me." She must be beat red all over and her palm was sweating profusely. Her body was suddenly pressed against Troy's from shoulder to hip. He smelled warm and spicy like the expensive cologne at the mall. _So much for her reputation._

Luis seemed to relax little. "Sorry for being so brash about all this." He shook his head. "I hate rumors. People are always in my business you know?"

Gabriella and Troy nodded.

"Hey babe, there's pizza in here." The other Gabriella pouted as she tugged on Luis's arm. "I'm hungry."

"Oh, yeah help yourselves." Troy nodded as he motioned towards where Chad was watching them.

"Thanks man."

And with that, they left Gabriella and Troy by the vending machine. _Had any of that been real?_

"Well," Troy said letting go of her hand. "I probably owe you my life."

"Don't mention it." she murmured then paused. "Seriously. Stop mentioning it. Not only is the bragging off putting but it's odd that everyone's gonna think we…"

Troy nodded. "Got it."

"Good."

They stood there for a moment.

"So do you need help?" he said shifting his eyes behind her to the vending machine.

She turned her attention back to her candy crisis. She'd almost forgot all about that. "Is it possible to… maybe you could, um… can you get that out for me?" Great she was babbling. Smooth. Why not just paint a big idiot sign on her forehead.

Troy raised a brow and smiled. "Least I can do, seeing as how I've been bragging about our sex life."

Gabriella's eyes widen, "Agreed."

Gabriella watched him cautiously. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a dollar. He inserted it into the machine and hit a couple of buttons. The M&M coil sprang to life releasing hers and another bag down into the tray. _She could have done that._

"Success," he threw his hands up in victory before bending over to retrieve the candy. "I believe this one is yours." He turned and held out bag to her and kept one for himself.

"I can pay you back for that." Gabriella took the offered candy and reached into the pocket of her shorts. "I mean, I'm sure you didn't want M&M's."

He shook his head. "I'm good."

"Right," Gabriella nodded. She should really get back to her room. She still had 3 chapters to Beta read tonight for side project she was working on for someone else. She didn't have time for this. She also just need to scream into a pillow. Decision made. She turned to start walking away.

"So where were you this weekend?" he appeared alongside her tearing open his bag of M&Ms.

 _Why were they still communicating?_ "I went back home to visit my dad," she said beginning to climb the stair back to the main floor.

"What's your favorite color of M&M?"

"They all taste the same."

"Well sure, but…" he was at her side once again as they got to the landing. "Everyone has a favorite color."

"That's different," Gabriella shook her head. "M&M's come only 5 colors, whereas someone's favorite color could be anything. What are the odds that out of hundreds of colors, your favorite color is also your favorite M&M?"

"Are you a science major?"

"English."

He didn't say anything after that. He just seemed to be walking her back to her room. _Why?_

"Red."

Gabriella raised her brow as she glanced at him as he walked beside her. Popping a red M&M into his mouth.

"Favorite color. Favorite M&M."

Gabriella stop in front of her door. "Green. Blue."

Troy made a face, "Wait that's two. Which one's which?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she wasn't sure where that came from. Wasn't even sure why she said it. But as soon as she saw his eyes widen she pushed her door open and got the hell out of there.

Troy sat in the second row at the table on his left. He wasn't exactly excited to take this elective, but he needed this class for other reasons. At least he wasn't completely horrible at American Sign Language. He'd taken a few courses in high school.

He leaned back in his seat his eyes scanning the room for familiar faces. Hardly any. Mostly freshmen. Troy let out a long sigh. Freshmen.

His mind wondered to Sharpay. This entire mess was out of control. If he'd known that the other Gabriella was in an on again off again relationship with a bug hulking monster, he never would have touched her. The only perk to this whole spreading his dirty laundry around was that it would get back to his ex-girlfriend Sharpay. He hoped she back off after hearing about his bonfire escapades.

Then he got a text message this morning about her needing his opinion on her underwear selection.

Apparently, his escapades almost got him killed for nothing.

Movement from doorway catches his eye and he looks over to see her. Gabriella. The M&M flirt. Thank god, for a moment he thought he might be bored. He waved in her direction and smiled when her eyes landed on him. She had really cute eyes. Like a baby deer. Wide, brown, innocent. Her hair was in one long braid coming over her right shoulder and she hugged her bag to her chest as if it held top secret information. She wore a pair of those yoga pants, the ones that really shouldn't be called pants but were totally awesome because they qualified for pants these days. If only she would turn around and lift her baggy shirt up a bit. Then he could see what they were working with.

She walked past him, sitting at the third table on the right.

What gives? Troy got up and made his way to her table. He plopped down in the seat beside her.

"I was saving us a spot."

She smiled. He liked making girls smile. It was just one of those things he was really good at. "I don't think sitting together is a good idea."

"Why?"

She rolled her eyes.

Troy smiled. "I guess your spot is better. Just want you to know, I spent a lot of time picking out that seat," he said with mock concern as he pointed to where he'd just been.

"Is this my punishment for saving your ass yesterday?"

Troy brought a hand up to his heart. "I'll have you know spending time with me is considered many things, punishment is not one of them."

"Well you sure do love telling everyone about it."

He dropped his shoulders, "I'm not like that."

"Really, so it's been my imagination that I was propositioned twice this morning because of your raving reviews on my supposed performance."

Troy stilled, "You can't be serious."

"As a heart attacked. And really, thank you again. I was really beginning to worry about social career being nonexistent until you put me on whose-hoeing-map of campus."

Troy chuckled, "None of that was my intention. I'm just trying to end things with my ex and it's not going over well."

"What a shame, because you have such a way with words."

"I do. I've broken up with her three times this month." He held up three fingers. "It didn't take. Every morning she acted like we were still together. She started talking about where we should have our destination wedding and what we should name out kinds. I tried being nice. I tried being mean. Nothing worked. So finally I went for drastic measures. I figured if she heard about my little hook up, she might just take the hint and move on."

One that note, her demeanor changed slightly. "So you're not a man-whore?"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." Gabriella shook her head as she let out a sigh.

They didn't talk for a next thirty minutes. Instead they sat through the class introduction. Mr. Stevens, their instructor informed them of what to expect for the upcoming semester in his class. Over all the entire thing seems like an easy A.

His eyes wonder to his assigned partner. She didn't seem too thrilled about that happy little accident. Gabriella was cute in a wholesome-girl-next-door sort of way.

"All right," Mr. Stevens said as he came around his desk. "It's silent time, now. Only communicate through sign. I'll be walking around to check on each of you try to get a gauge on what we're working with."

Troy smiles and looks over at his M&M buddy. Her smile is forced and she starts signing.

 _I guess we're stuck together. I hope we…_ Troy frowns as the rest gets jumbled. She's real good. So much for an easy A.

 _Sorry, go slower._

She smiles wider and emphasizes each movement.

 _I hope we can move past our sex life and get along. Thank you for the M &M last night._

Right. He suddenly wished he was as good as she was.

 _You're really good at this. Where did you learn?_

Her face dropped just a little and for a moment he thought he said something wrong. Maybe he signed balls instead of learn.

 _A good friend taught me. We skyped all_ …bunch of gibberish.

Troy reach out and caught her hands.

 _S-L-O-W!_

 _We skyped a lot. It was easier for her to sign._

 _Cool, my nephew is autistic. We're teaching him how to sign._

 _You have a nephew?_

 _Wait? Was? You don't talk to her anymore?_

They signed at the same time and she smiled as Mr. Steven came by to monitor there interaction.

 _Sorry, you have a nephew?_

Troy ran a hand over his hair before continuing. _Yeah, he's four. His name is Alex. He's funny._

She scrunched up her nose. _Can you be funny at four?_

 _Why not?_

Her face get a little red and she looks up at Mr. Stevens who nods and begin walking towards the next table. She take a long breath and looks down at her lap. Troy motions for her attention.

 _What about your friend?_

 _We don't have to keep this up, the instructor_ … more gibberish.

Troy grunts as he catches her hands again. They feel kind of warm and she jerks away, going so red he wasn't sure if there was any blood in any part of her body but her face.

 _Slow, please._

 _I don't want to talk about it. It's personal._

Troy nodded. Why didn't she just say so? He watched her for a moment and then let out a sign. _Seen any good movies?_

Her eyes widen and she shrugs her shoulders. _Not big on movies._

Troy rolls his eyes unable to wrap his brain around this woman. He wiped his hands on his jeans as he tried to recall some of the gestures for this next one. _Let me get this right. You don't think four year olds are funny, you may or may not like the blue M &M and you don't watch… movies? _

They both stifle their laughter. Thank god she thought he was funny. The thought did a weird things to his stomach, but in a good way.

 _I told you. All colors taste the same._

 _Lair._

 _That's a fact._

He smiled at her and enjoyed watching her smile back. She was something else all right. He just wasn't sure what. _So why don't you like movies?_

 _I just don't get out as much. You know, not really one of those girls._

No he didn't know. He was 21 years old and he still couldn't get his hands on the secret handbook that let him know everything. _Girls that like to see movies?_ He chuckled and so did she.

 _No. Like I'm not…_ She stops and does a mock thinking face. It's cute. When she signs this time she goes slowly. _I don't get asked out a lot._

Troy raises a brow, not sure how to respond to that. _You have friends though, right?_ He attempts a smile.

He watches as she frowns again. And he wished he knew why she was so sad. Finally, she nods. _Back home. They all have boyfriends. Sitting in a theater with a bunch of people making out around me? No thanks._

She attempts another smile. But it doesn't reach her eyes.

 _Yeah, I can get that._ Troy lets out a long breath. _At the moment all my buddies always have a date. I'm always a third wheel._

 _It slaps balls._

Caught off guard Troy lets out a bark of laughter. Did she really sign that, or did he interpret it wrong? But she's laughing too, and everyone was looking at them.

"Do I need to separate you two?" Mr. Stevens asks.

"No sir," Gabriella says as she looks back at Troy with a small smile.

When class lets out Gabriella scoops up her bag and starts making her way out of the classroom.

"Hey, wait up." His voice calls to her as he catches up. She starts to descend the stair case and he maneuvers around three other classmates just to end up on her side. "Do you have a class after this?"

"Not for another hour," she said politely.

"Me too, let's get something to eat."

Gabriella eyes widen. "Why?"

Troy races towards the bottom step pushing the door open and holding it for her. "Because I'm hungry and I hate eating alone."

"Actually I have some stuff to work on," she said cautiously as she stepped towards the door. She took a breath.

"Aw come on it's the first day of classes, what could you possibly have to do that's more important than food."

Chapter seven of Crashing into You. Answering emails from her readers. Coming up with an ending. Not thinking about Jenny. Because Jenny would know what to do. She'd be able to finish the story with the kind of ending that made everyone feel that dopey happy ever after high. Jenny always knew what to do.

The last one hurt. A dull throb melted her chest and she felt a tear forming. "I just do."

"Right," Troy said quietly. He probably thought she was crazy. He probably thought she was weird. Everyone always thought she was weird. Too bad, because even though he was everything she hated about college wrapped up in his cool guy-no one ever says no to me- package, he was still intriguing.

"I guess; I'll see you later then?"

"Bye," she began walked down the path back to her dorm room. Her mind drifted to Jenny again.


	2. Chapter 2

_A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 4. Chapter 4_

 _From: MTTWildCat_

 _When is this story going to update. How many chapter are there? When will Lauren and Michael get together?_

Gabriella only posted one chapter of Crashing Into You, this week and it was only half as long as usual. It was the last chapter she had completed on her desk stop before Jenny…

Yeah.

Her fingers tapped the table top. She ventured out today to the student center for lunch. Taylor had left early to get a book from the campus book store for her next class. She decided to stay behind because there was only one other option and that was to go back to the room and stare at the box of Jenny's things.

No thank you.

"What are you working on?"

Gabriella pulled the laptop shut as she looked up at Troy hovering over her.

"Something personal."

"Looked like you were writing a story," Troy leaned over to see the notes on her notebook. "Questions to be answered? Why is Michael pursuing Lauren? Why is Lauren insure about her feeling for Michael? What is the overall goal for the couple?"

Gabriella swiped her notebook away from him.

"I said it was personal."

"So you like to write."

Gabriella didn't say anything. At the moment she really didn't like to write. She really didn't understand what she was doing. She began packing up her things.

"You write romance stories?" he said pointing at the laptop.

"I don't want to talk about it. You'll think it's stupid. People always do. And I really don't feel like being shit on any more than I already have today."

Troy nodded, "Bad day huh?"

"Why do you care?" she said zipping her bag shut.

"I'm having a bad day too," Troy frowned as he motioned towards a beautiful blonde standing in line for coffee.

"Now what?"

"The ex-girlfriend."

Gabriella paused as she glanced back over at the perky looking girl in question. Gabriella tried to ignore the small beads of sweat forming at her hairline. She had shiny blond hair that flowed over sun-kissed shoulders peeking out of a cutesy white sundress. Who the heck had hair like that unless she's was in a hot pink package and distributed by Mattel?

She was a sharp contrast to her own plain Jane build. Gabriella was the invisible girl. There was at least one of them in every grade, the one who sat in class and got A's on every test but never raised her hand. She never been one for any extra-curricular clubs, unless you counted the Math League, and no one ever did. Even her clothing choices were safe, bland and utterly boring.

"She's pretty." Gabriella said finally.

"So are you."

It was as if he'd read her mind.

"Please, don't do that. The only reason I'm getting any kind of male attention at the moment is because people think I'm a whore."

"Some guys are clueless, unless you throw it in their face."

"Throw what in their face?"

Troy shrugged, "Some guys only want what the other guys have."

"I don't understand." She had no idea what he was talking about, but something inside her zinged with nervous energy.

"Right now you're a free agent. Everyone thinks your open for business. So shut it down. Get a boyfriend."

"Are literally insane?" Gabriella leaned forward. "That's a horrible idea. I hate lies. And besides, even if I wanted to, who on earth is going to volunteer to-"

"I would."

"That's not funny."

He studied her, his gaze unnerving her, then his low voice said in two simple words. "Not joking."

"Troy-"

"Come on, I've got a stalking ex I need off my case, and your reputation could use some damage control."

"It would need damage control if you hadn't destroyed."

"Fair enough," Troy nodded, "But what are your other options." His lips curved in a mocking smile that did something to her stomach.

"No one would ever believe it," she said pointedly. "Personally, I'm shock that you people to be that we …" she blushed unable to finish the sentence.

"That we what?" He leaned forward. Her breath caught in her throat as he reached out and touched her hair, twirling a long strand around his finger. He leaned in so close she could see a faint shadow of stubble on his jaw. "Fell for each other." He shifted closer, moving in so that his lips barely brushed her cheek as he whispered in her ear. "Or that we just hook up?"

This, but he wasn't… she didn't … what… Her thoughts spun out of control, just like her hormones. God what was he-

He dropped her lock of hair and leaned back against his chair, smirking. "I think everyone would believe that. You did, didn't you? Just for a second?"

Her hand flew up to slap him, but he grabbed it like he'd been expecting it. "Two weeks. It won't even take that long. Sharpay only needs to see us do that once. I'll even let you drop kick my sorry ass at the end of it."

"You're such a-" he was still holding her hand, though he loosened his grip.

"Jackass. I know. But let me pretend to be your jackass boyfriend and we'll both get what we want."

 _Troy Bolton's girlfriend._ Her brain did cartwheels at the thought until she reminded herself he meant his fake girlfriend.

She missed Jenny already. Even now more so.

Jenny would tell her to leave. Insist her self-respect was worth more than this shit-show it was turning into. Taylor might kill her if she knew what she was considering agreeing to. Then Taylor would bring her back to life just to kill her again.

"You're still here, so I'm assuming that means yes?" Troy said breaking the silence

"You're not used to people saying no to you are you?"

"Doesn't happen often. So, no. I guess not."

"If I agree," she said, attempting to gain some power back, "We need rules."

Troy laughed. His eyes met hers. "Like?"

"No kissing."

"Just kissing?" Troy asked with a sly smile.

"No anything," Gabriella spurted, her blood heating, climbing like the mercury in a thermometer.

Troy's lips twisted, "We can revisit that when we get to it. For now how about I just promise to be a gentlemen."

"Fine," Gabriella replied.

"So?" Troy arched a brow. "We good?"

Everything in her screamed no, but when she finally opened her mouth, the word that fell out was "Okay."

 _"So, uh, you're a girl right…" he started, cringing at how awkward it sounded._

 _"How clever of you to notice." Lauren narrowed her eyes in his direction._

 _Michael let out a low chuckle, "I didn't mean it like that. I just, well you know, I don't know."_

 _"Right."_

 _"Does Alyssa talk about me? Like. At all?"_

 _Lauren rolled her eyes, "I really don't make it a habit to listen to the words falling out of her mouth. It's my suspicion that she's just fifty percent hairspray and make up. Her humanity has yet to be proven."_

 _"I worry about her."_

 _"She's a big girl," Lauren shrugged her shoulders._

 _"She's been through a lot Lauren. It's hard for her."_

 _"I bet it is." Lauren sat up a little straighter. "Why is it that she can be so… so bitchy and you guys still hang out with her?"_

 _"Honest answer?" he raised a brow._

 _"Please?"_

 _"She's hot." he said blankly._

 _Lauren leaned over and pretended to gag. "Is that really all that matters?"_

 _Michael felt his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh. "What about Mitch?"_

 _"What about him?"_

 _"I saw you on the beach with him earlier, you two looked … cozy."_

 _Lauren let out a snort as she plucked some cotton candy from her cone. "As if."_

 _Michael watched her as she causally sat beside him. There were suddenly so many things he realized he didn't know about her._

 _"What?" she asked with a sideways glance._

 _"Nothing," he said reaching for more cotton candy._

 _"I'm sure it is." She said shaking her head._

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _Lauren shrugged her shoulders. "You always have something to say. Nice or not."_

 _"I'm always nice." He made himself sound offended._

 _She snorted. "Yeah, right."_

 _Michael let out a sigh, "Is this still about the Nick name thing? That was years ago? I thought we agreed that was behind us?" he risked a peek in her direction hoping she'd be smiling. She was._

 _"No, I'm over that," she said. "But, you've never been nice to me. You've just kind of ignored me."_

 _She looked embarrassed, like maybe she hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Honestly it's whatever," she continued, her words coming out in a rush. "You can't be friendly to everyone. Who has the time for that-"_

 _"Lauren," he stopped her. He didn't make fun of people. It was against his code. He teased people, sometimes, but never in a mean way. He racked his brain but couldn't think of anything other than the nickname._

 _"Name one time." he said feeling a little defensive._

 _Lauren shook her head, "It's no big deal. It's just that the few times you do acknowledge me, you've made fun of me."_

 _Michael was quiet for a moment. "Well I'm sorry about that."_

 _"Yeah." She said quietly._

 _"So tell me about your family?" When she didn't respond he let out a sigh, and reached out for another piece of cotton candy. He decided to switch gears, "No one really knows anything about you. What about your mom? What's she like?"_

 _"Everyone wants to know about me today," Lauren whispered._

 _"That's kind of what conversations are all about Lauren."_

 _She thought about his answer for a moment pinching another glop of cotton candy off the cone in her hand. "My parents got married a month after they met."_

 _"Love at first sight?"_

 _"I don't know if I'd call it love, but it was somethin'. They got married, had me, and then the rest was history." A small smile pulled at her lips. Like she'd made and inside joke. Suddenly he wanted to know what the joke was._

 _"Sounds nice, so who do you look like more, your mom or dad?" Michael offered with a smile as he reached for some cotton candy._

 _"My dad," she muttered, "Unfortunately."_

 _"Ouch, come on it's not that bad. I think you're charming in your own way."_

 _"Charming?" Lauren huffed. "You think I'm charming?" she looked back at him squinting in the afternoon sun._

 _"Believe it or not it doesn't totally suck to hang out with you."_

- _Chapter 5, Crashing Into You by Jabriella_

The moment they stepped into the cafeteria, the volume increased. Everyone was probably speculating about her "relationship" with Troy. the reality of what people were probably saying about her hit home, and she froze. Her palms started to sweat.

Taylor grabbed her elbow and steered her towards their usual table. Random catcalls and unflattering comments floated around them as they crossed the industrial beige tile. Great. No one had noticed her before but now that she'd been dragged into Troy's orbit everyone had a comment.

"What do you mean, Troy wants to be your fake boyfriend?" She demanded. "This has disaster written all over it."

"Maybe," Gabriella said looking at her burger. "Maybe not."

"Did we not establish his certified assholery when he told the whole campus he shagged you at the bonfire?"

"We did," Gabriella agreed. "And I know it seems stupid-"

"I don't want you getting hurt." Taylor said with a concerning small frown.

"Why would I?" Gabriella said with a shrug, "Troy's not going to accidently fall for me. And I'm not going to fall for him. Plus, people already we think we did it."

"Because you let them."

"What was I supposed to do. Let Luis kill him?"

"Yes," Taylor eagerly. "Teach him a lesson about bragging."

"I know it's a crazy idea."

"It's insane."

"But," Gabriella continued. "Let play it out for a day or two and see what happens."

They were both quiet for a moment as she began to eat her burger. People all around them went about their lives. Then Taylor shook her head.

"You said okay?"

"I said okay."

"Shouldn't you be eating dinner with him then?"

"I haven't seen him since lunch." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows, maybe he'll forget about it all."

"He won't," Taylor said quickly. "A guy like Troy doesn't throw out that kind of deal and forget about it. Do you think Lucifer forgets when he makes deals for people's souls?"

"Lucifer's a bit harsh. Don't you think?"

Both Gabriella and Taylor went quiet as they looked up at Troy.

"Hey Babe," he smiled setting his tray down beside hers. "Hope you don't mind I brought a friend."

"We're sitting with them now?" Chad said as he placed his plate down.

"Yes," Troy responded before Gabriella could protest. "Hope you ladies don't mind."

Without another word Troy and Chad sat down at their table and Troy reached over and stole a fry from Gabriella's plate.

"What about all your groupies?" Taylor asked narrowing her eyes at Troy.

"Excuse me?" Troy looked up from his plate. "What are you talking about?"

"You're not going to whore around on her are you?" Taylor glared at him then back to Gabriella. "What good is your reputation if your boyfriends a cheating man-whore."

Troy laughed as he opened his soda. "I'll be a good boy I promise."

"What does being a good boy mean to the bad boy?"

"I'm not a bad boy."

"Right. You just told the entire campus you fucked my roommate at bonfire. And if that's not enough, let's not totally neglect the _actual_ fact, that you actually fucked some else's girlfriend and didn't even know her name."

The table went quiet as all eyes turned towards him.

"This is so weird," Chad said leaning back in his chair and staring at the two in question.

"You're pre-law aren't you?" Troy asked directing the question to Taylor.

"I don't think we've met, my name is Chad."

"I know who you are." Taylor said before sipping her drink.

"What is that, like a designated response with you girls?" Troy said looking back at Gabriella.

"Chad this is Taylor, my roommate." Gabriella introduced as she gave Taylor a look.

Chad nodded "Right." He let out a long breath and shifted his attention to his plate. Instead of a burger and fries he had a wrap.

"Troy! woo hoo!" her shrill voice rang through the cafeteria.

Troy ran his hand down his face. "Welcome to my nightmare."

Gabriella smiled as she watched the tall blond with big boobs approach their table.

"Troy, what are you doing?"

Completely caught off guard Troy pulled Gabriella's chair closer, as if to make a point. Shocking Gabriella in the process as she registered this new closeness with him. "Sharpay, I broke up with you. Remember?"

"You didn't mean that." She twisted a lock of hair around her finger and smiled. "We're so good together."

Troy sighed. "Sharpay, we talked about this."

"Don't you miss me?" she moved closer and whispered. "Just a little bit?"

And suddenly this was all sorts of awkward. Taylor's face crinkled with sympathy and Gabriella eyebrows rose in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, but we're through. I'm dating Gabriella." He lifted his arm and draped it over Gabriella's shoulder.

Sharpay sniffled and blinked her eyes quickly like she was trying not to cry. "We were meant to be. You'll figure that out soon enough." She turned on her heel and strode off.

"Psycho," Chad murmured.

Taylor shook her head as she lifted a fry. "If I wake up and find that crazy white girl in our room attempting to strangle you… I told you so."

Chad stifled a laugh.

Troy shifted in his seat and faced Gabriella with a small smile. "She's harmless."

"I'm sure I can handle it."

The next day Gabriella wore a blue tang top with a grey cardigan over it and another pair of yoga pants. He liked the way she dressed. It was comfy and yet tastefully seductive. Her cleavage was ample today and he be lying if he said he was appreciative of the view. Her hair was tousled around her face still damp as if she'd just come from a shower. It was hot. Troy watched as she came to their table and took a seat.

"Hey Babe,"

She stilled as she watched him carefully. A slight cringe crosses her face, but it's gone before he could tell if it was actually there. "Don't call me babe. It makes you sound like a douche."

Troy laughed. Yeah, he liked this girl. "Noted."

She nodded as she took out a pen and notebook from her bag.

"So did you get any writing done last night?"

"What?" her eyes widen as she looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Your writing," Troy said getting a whiff of her perfume. An almost spicy vanilla smell, like a cookie. "You were working on a story about that couple yesterday."

"Oh," Gabriella bit her bottom lip. "Don't worry about it."

"How long have you been writing?"

She released a sigh and he smile. Gabriella was exotic and curvy in all the right places, even though she seemed to do her best not to advertise it. He usually didn't go for brainy and modest, but there was intensity in Gabriella's spirit that he craved. A fire in her eyes she was consistently extinguishing. He couldn't help but be curious what might actually happen if she let it burn.

If he forced her to let it burn.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. His eyes rising up to meet hers as she thought about answering him.

"Since I was twelve."

"Wow," Troy raised his brows as he tilted his head. "Why don't you want to talk about it? Obviously it's your thing."

"Because my thing is stupid."

"My thing is golf. My thing is boring."

She didn't say anything, she reached for her hair and bunched it up picking up the pen and shifting it through her hair until she made a bun. That was kind of cool. "Your thing is being the hot, rich guy on campus everyone wants to be friends with."

"You think I'm hot?"

"I think your ego doesn't need to be stroked any more than it already is."

"Your supposed be playing the role of my loving girlfriend."

Her dark eyes shone, and he saw her hold back a smile. "Girlfriends say stuff like that all the time to their boyfriends."

She might have been able to hold back her smile, but she could not hold back the color in her cheeks when she called him her boyfriend.

"Not mine," he replied. "None of my friends would ever believe I'd let a girl talk to me like that."

"Maybe a girl _should_ talk to you like that."

Troy found himself holding back a smile. Maybe that was what he liked about her. Before he could respond Mr. Stevens came in and addressed the class.

After a small lecture about S's Mr. Stevens announced more quiet time while he walked around helping people with their signs.

Troy turned his attention to her.

 _Why are you so prickly about your writing?_

 _I am not prickly._

Troy raised a brow _. Come on, you practically slammed the laptop shut yesterday_.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. _Because I don't like it when people lurk over my shoulder._

 _Performance anxiety?_

 _You'd know all about that wouldn't you?_ The way her breast pushed against the fabric of her shirt gave him a few ideas about a performance. Then he thought about her Talk Nerdy to Me sweatshirt. He wondered if it was balled up in her room now, smelling like a cookie.

 _I'm definitely a performer._ He studied her face. Her skin was the color of brown sugar and had that same shine. He tasted sweetness on his tongue. _Speaking of performances, we need to go on a date._

 _I'm not really up for that right now._

 _Seriously?_

She sighed as she looked around the room. _My best friend died last week._

Troy flinched but recovered quickly _._ Neither of them said anything for a moment.

 _She was sick. It wasn't sudden just… sad. Really sad._

Silence past between them. _She taught you how to sign didn't she?_

Gabriella nodded.

"Shit." Troy mumbled as he shifted beside her.

"Mr. Bolton." Mr. Stevens addressed him and Troy winced and signed his apologies. Then he turned back to Gabriella. _Are you okay?_

 _I'm dealing with it. The funeral was last weekend._

 _What was her name?_

 _Jenny._

They both sat in silence again for a moment. Troy looking off at the few people across from them signing and having conversations about movies or their families.

 _I'm a total ass hat aren't I?_ Troy shifted to face her again.

 _You're Troy Bolton. My life's always been inferior in this equation._

 _Tell me about her._

 _It's okay, we don't-_

Troy reached out his hands and stopped hers.

 _I want to know._

There was a pause Gabriella thought about responding. _We met in Math League. We weren't exactly most popular, but we click and we became really close. We use to … write together._

 _What did you write about?_

 _Online stories._

 _That's really cool, did you guys have a following or website?_

Just then Mr. Stevens stopped at their table. _Well, are you going to answer the question?_ He signed for Gabriella.

Her lips tighten into a flat line as she looked at Troy hesitantly. _Something like that. I was mostly a Beta reader._

Mr. Stevens nodded. _Great work guys. Mr. Bolton, please work on your 'S's. You're very choppy._

Troy nodded and watched as Mr. Stevens walked to the next table.

 _What's a Better Reader?_

Gabriella smile. _Beta._

 _Yeah._

 _A beta reader is just a non-professional reader who reads a written work,-_ and she was picking up speed. Troy made the time out signal.

 _S-L-O-W._

 _A reader who reads a written work generally fiction, with the intent of looking over the material to find and improve elements such as grammar and spelling, as well as suggestions to improve the story, its characters, or its setting._

 _So an editor._

 _Yeah, like that._

 _I'd love to read something sometime._

"Okay class, you're all doing really great. Seriously you're all naturals even Jason back there who can't sign to save his life."

People chuckled.

For the last thirty minutes they went over some of the common errors Mr. Stevens had noticed in class, even just some common words that could be misinterpreted.

When class was over Troy did a better job at keeping up this time. "I meant what I said back there." He said taking her hand in his. It felt good to hold her hand. Surprisingly good to hold her hand.

"What was that?" she said as they made their way down the stairs.

"I would like to read your stuff."

At that she lifted her hand instantly dropping his. She tucked her hair behind her ear. He frowned without really understanding why. He wasn't supposed to like holding her hand that much. He barely knew her.

"You wouldn't like it," she said as they exited the building

"You don't know that."

"I know it." Gabriella stopped just a little way off the path to avoid going further and being in the way at the same time.

"Why?"

"Its chick lit."

"I like chick lit."

"No you don't."

Troy let out a chuckle, "Something tells me I'd like it if you wrote it."

That made her smile. Score one for him.

"Can I walk you somewhere?"

"I can walk myself."

Troy took a deep breath as he ranked a hand though his hair. She was one weird girl. She was like no one he'd ever met. Like no girl he ever thought he would meet. "Well then, may I join you?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend."

Her dark eyes shone, and he saw her hold back a smile. She might be able to hold back a smile, but she could not hold back the color in her cheeks when he said _boyfriend_.

She nodded. "Fine, you can walk me back to my room."

Troy smiled and held out his hand. "I'll take it."

"I'm not a horse, I don't need to be led around." She said walking past him and ignoring his hand.

Yeah. He definitely liked this girl.

Gabriella let out low sigh when Troy quickly closed the gap between them by draping his arm over her shoulder. His thumb rubbed a soft circle on her arm, shutting down her brain functions. Everyone was staring at them as they walked the path. People called out for Troy's attention and he waved and nodded in their direction but he remained at her side.

She hadn't considered that this fake boyfriend thing would actually become public knowledge. Like, _really_ public.

Suddenly he let out a breath, "So I was thinking,"

"Stop the press, he thinks." She teased moving so that she was free of his arm draped around her. She hadn't been aware how much she like his touch until she lost it.

"Funny," he said with tone. "I was actually going to ask if you wanted to be study buddies for ASL."

"You're not doing horribly," Gabriella said looking up at him.

"I'm not doing well either."

 _"_ That's fair."

"So can you tutor me or what?"

"I'll think about it," she shrugged. She didn't need to be spending any more time with him than she already was. It was almost too easy to understand why a boy like Troy Bolton might be dangerous.

"Seriously?"

"Serious." She responded with a nod.

"How am I not just an automatic yes? You're my girlfriend remember?"

"Yeah I remember. But a request like you're isn't just a request."

"It isn't?" He watched her questioningly as she moved a little bit ahead of him.

"It's more like a request that requires flattery, groveling and repetition."

Troy's smiled pulled. "You want me to beg."

Gabriella returned his smile. "See, you're not as stupid as you think you are." With that she began to climb the steps to her dorm

Troy huffed as caught up to her and pulled open the door for her, "I don't beg."

Gabriella raised her brow as she walked past him inside. "A little begging is good for you. Keeps you humble."

They walked down the hall towards her room. Neither of them saying anything for a moment and her stomach suddenly became a tight ball. He was following her to her room. _Why?_

"Well, thanks for walking with me, but you really don't need to walk me all the way."

"You said I could walk you to your room." he said with a small smirk. "We're not at your room yet."

"Right."

A minute later they were at her door and she looked back at him while he stood there staring at it.

"Nice door."

Gabriella raised a brow and looked at the door. Looking back at him she let out a low breath. "Here's the thing, I really don't know you. You're kind of some strange guy following back to my room. This whole situation if it was examined by anyone with any survival instinct would seem kind of rapey."

"Rapey?"

"You understand that right?" she said tilting her head to the side.

He dropped an eyebrow and shook his head, still smiling. "Not really. But now I feel like I should go. The word 'rapey' makes me uncomfortable."

"Me, too."

"Right." Troy nodded as he slid his hand into his pocket. "I'm gonna go now."

"I'm sorry." Gabriella tried to pull off a smile, "I ruined our friendly banter. Who just blurts stuff out like that?"

"You didn't ruin anything." Troy came back a little giving her his full attention. "You just caught me off guard."

"I just don't know what's wrong with me lately. Talking to people isn't my strong suit." Crossing her arms over her chest she let out a breath. "Fart. I haven't really been in this situation before."

Troy chuckled, "Did you really just say fart?"

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah."

"I thought girls avoided that word around guys."

"We don't avoid the word… just the action." Her body relaxed, she was thankful for the subject change.

"Oh my god," Troy laughed again. The sound full and deep like from his belly. It makes her laugh too.

"What?" she asked through pretend offended giggles. "That's my four letter F-word."

Troy settled down after a moment and leaned on the wall. "I think, I like you."

"Ah, so we're officially friends now because I said fart." Gabriella shakes her head. "That's gotta be the most random thing ever."


	3. Chapter 3

Troy moved up in line from behind Chad, his eyes focused on Gabriella and Taylor from across the room. Taylor waved her hands around and made ridiculous faces while she told a story. Gabriella laughed so hard she snorted.

"It's going to be a long two weeks." Chad murmured as he moved up in line.

"Maybe, maybe not." Troy shrugged. "I kind of like her."

"Dude, girls like her aren't like the girls you're use too." Chad warned as he turned to place an order for his wrap.

"She's different." Troy smirked.

"No. She's cute. That's worse."

His best friend's logic was sometimes difficult to follow, but it was always entertaining. "Go on."

"Look at her," Chad gestured in her direction. "Take a hint. No makeup. Hair in a ponytail. That is not a girl interested in hooking up."

"Maybe she just likes to be comfortable."

Chad sniffed as he moved up in line. "Probably wears granny panties. Not like you'll have a chance to find out."

That sounded like a challenge. Not sure it was a game worth playing, considering the mess he'd made of things so far. "Sad but true."

Troy lifted his tray and placed an order for a wrap. Turning towards Chad he sighed.

Another snort from their table sounded and Troy smiled.

"Can you imagine what your father would say if you behaved that way in public?" Chad asked.

Since he'd been old enough to talk, his father had drilled into him that Whatever-you-do-reflects-on-our-family speech. He'd memorized it by the time he was seven. "Snorting while laughing is number twelve on the list of inappropriate behaviors." He shook his head. "Ever wonder what it would be like not to care about appearances in public?"

"No." Chad picked up a water bottle from the bucket willed with them at the end of the counter. "I enjoying being perfect."

Chad would never admit to pressure from his family. At his house, everything was perfect at all times. Seemingly without effort. At Troy's house though, everyone kept up appearances for his father's sake. Sometimes it was exhausting.

"Do you want to go to the driving range after lunch tomorrow?"

"Can't. I'm giving Matt Becker golf lessons."

"Isn't that the freshmen in the wheelchair?"

"Yes. He has adaptive golf clubs. They're pretty cool."

Troy reached for a bottle of water and paused as Chad motioned towards Gabriella's table. "Looks like someone is moving in on your territory."

Troy eyes followed to the situation at hand. Some thick-necked jock had taken a seat next to Gabriella. Did she know this guy? He put his arm around her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Her face turned red. She shoved him, but he didn't budge.

"Why does it always have to be someone bigger than me?" Troy said as they began making their way over.

"Get off." She pushed the jerk, but it was like trying to move a wall. Sometimes being a small female sucked.

"You should let go of her." Taylor's tone was calm, but her eyes were huge.

The guy laughed and whispered not-exactly-sweet nothings in her ear, which made it sound like he watched way too much porn. Her stomach churned. Maybe if she puked on him, maybe he'd go away.

She longed for the days were she used to be anonymous, invisible to the opposite sex. Whatever happened to chivalry? Whatever happen to normalcy? Apparently this was the beauty of being a girl, people hear you had sex once and BAM - you're a bimbo.

"Alright that's enough of that." Troy's voice sounded above them.

"Hey man," the jerk laughed as his arm around Gabriella got a little more possessive.

"Funny," Troy said bringing a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I see your arm there around my girlfriend and I can't help but wonder how fast my father might tear up that check for the football scholar ship donations."

The guy's arm slid off her back. "I was only kidding around man."

"I'm not." Troy responded. "Furthermore I wonder what would happen is she filed sexual harassment charges. Do you think something like that might affect your time on the bench given Coach Rosenberg has three teenage daughters of his own."

The jerk pushed his chair back and got up slowly. "I'm sorry about the misunderstanding."

Troy looked up at him as if he were a speck of dirt. "Out of my sight. Now."

Before he was two steps away Troy placed a hand on his arm. "And you can relay all that to your teammates. She's taken."

When he was gone Troy sat down beside her and inched his chair a little closer. "Are you all right?"

She nodded looking up to see Chad taking a seat as well.

"Comes with the territory." Chad said with a small smile. "Notoriety, for whatever reason, never seems to benefit the noted, only the 'notees.'"

"Well the territory sucks." Taylor said reaching a hand over to place it on top of Gabriella's. "Next time I'll just whack him with my tray."

The muscle in her jaw unclenched. "Thanks for helping." She smiled at Troy to show him she was still in control.

"Least I can do, I did drag you into this." He reached his hand up to her shoulder, offering a gentle rub. His fingertips grazed her skin

"Did you really mean any of that crap you said?" Taylor asked looking over at Troy.

"My father is always looking for a tax write-off. I don't think he'll mind."

"You made that up?" Gabriella couldn't believe it. He'd been so smooth about the whole thing and it was so nice of him to step up.

"My father says it's better to out-think someone than to resort to physical violence."

After dinner Taylor, Chad, and Gabriella walked down the path back to their room. Troy and Chad talked about this event at their country club that was coming up. Taylor hung back walking alongside Gabriella.

"He's not as horrible as I thought he was." Taylor let out a sigh.

"Don't get attached," Gabriella said quietly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "The situation has a time table."

"You're being pretty cavalier about this." Taylor nudged her playfully. "Aren't you supposed to be eternally in love with him and shit?"

"No." Gabriella shook her head. "It's just weird."

"At least his friend is cute." Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe we could go on a double date sometime?"

"If that double date happens within the next two weeks, sure."

Taylor smiled, "Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll start a rumor about me?"

"Trust me, it sucks."

They were quiet for a moment after that. "So are you really not going to write anymore?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I have no idea what to do. I posted the last chapter I had two days ago and people are demanding more. I just don't know if I have it in me right now."

"Are you at least going to go through the box. Because if not, can you at least shove it in the closet or something. It's weird."

"What's weird?" Troy said slowing down a bit a wrapping an arm around Gabriella.

"Nothing." Gabriella answered before Taylor gave her away.

Even after the Twilight and One Direction boom, when fan fiction was more prominently known than ever, she could see people getting genuinely uncomfortable when it was mentioned. For reasons unknown the sentence, "I write fan fiction" seemed to attract the same reaction you would get if you announced that you ate your twin in the womb.

People still have so many weird misconceptions about what fan fiction is, what kind of people write it, and it all results in lots of really awkward conversations that, frankly, it was better if she never mentioned it.

It was one thing for Taylor to know about _Maybe This Time._ There was no hiding the hand drawn Michael and Lauren Posters that had been sent to her by a reader. Or the mock cover art her and Jenny had worked on that one time they took Computer Imagery together. Then there was the topic of Jenny.

Jenny and _Maybe This Time_ went hand in hand. They rarely if ever talked about anything else. This new quiet was… strange. She felt anxious. The voice in her head about the story line were now a dull constant whisper. A baseline to everything else she was going through.

She missed Jenny. She missed writing. She missed being able to take a breath.

"So tutoring?" Troy said with a smile.

Switching gears, she let out a sigh and decided to spread her current wealth. "I'll make you a deal for it."

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll tutor you if you arrange a double date between Taylor and Chad."

Troy raised a brow. "Deal."

"And it has to be a date, date. We're not just going to the same event together I want it to be an actual date." Taylor chimed in.

Troy removed his arm from around Gabriella. "Alright, I'll make it happen. Anything else?"

Gabriella looked over at Taylor for confirmation. "Nope I think that's it."

"Always a pleasure." Troy smiled as they approached the dorm. "Good night."

"Night." Gabriella smiled as she and Taylor excitedly began heading up the stairs. Chad who had been lingering behind came up besides Troy and they stood at the top of the stoop as Troy filled him in about the double date.

His mouth fell open as he looked up at them. Taylor smiled as she gave him a small wave good night. And they both erupted into laughter when he shook his head and went back to ranting at Troy.

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 5. Chapter 5_

 _From: DJClubNut53_

 _Finally, an update! It's been soooo long! I find it a little strange that he hadn't found her attractive or hasn't noticed how beautiful her face is. At least know he's noticing her. I understand he's supposed to be in love with Alyssa and just think of Lauren as a little pest next door, but come on. I do love your Lauren, she's fun, quirky, smart and beautiful (at least to other boys LOL).I hope he realizes how shallow and selfish Alyssa is (which it seems he's been as well) and sees there is more to life. Can't wait to see what happens next. Please update soon. And not in like three weeks like last time. That sucked._

The next afternoon Troy spotted her on her way into town, slowing down he lowered his window and pulled up to the curb. "Wanna ride, little girl? I've got candy. And puppies."

Gabriella smiled as she leaned down to stare through the open window. "Perv."

"Is that an accusation? Or a proposition?" Troy smiled as she leaned across the passenger seat and opened the car door. "Get in, Little Red Riding Hood. The Big Bad Wolf is going to the same place you are."

Gabriella raised a brow. "I'm going to Starbucks."

"Great, I'll let you buy me a drink."

Gabriella laughed as she got in the car. "You have such an ego."

"I do," he said with a smile as he pulled away from the curb. "So I googled you."

Gabriella raised a brow. "Why?"

"I was looking for these online stories, I've heard so little about." He said shifting so he could flex his arm while he drove. Why did he suddenly care about impressing her?

"I told you, I'm not a writer."

"Bullshit."

She let out a laugh, "Fine, I do write. Just haven't in a while."

"Why not?"

"Because it's strange without her. Jenny was always the brains of the operation. I just followed along."

"There are many things I can believe about you," he said with smirk, "the idea that you follow anyone is not one of them."

"I only wish I had that kind of confidence."

Troy smiled, "You got more than confidence, you have spunk." Troy glanced at her as he spoke. "Do you know how many people would kill for spunk."

He took a moment to appreciate that the skirt she had on shifted up a bit as she sat back into her seat. God bless legs like hers. They were shaped nicely, begging for his hands to just touch one. He gripped the steer wheel a little better. _Lord have some mercy on him._

"What do you write?"

"What is your obsession with this?"

"You like it; I want to know about it." And he meant it. Surprisingly he meant it a lot. When she didn't say anything he let out a sigh, "Fine, Golf." He said understanding this was going to take some giving. "I've been giving lessons to this kid who is in a wheelchair. He has adaptive golf clubs. They're good, but I think I could design better ones."

"So what, you're an in the closet adaptive-golf-club engineer?"

"Yup, my father would probably kill me if he found out about the few engineering classes I've been taking."

"That makes no sense."

Troy let out a sigh, he shouldn't be telling her any of this. "For now it's best to follow my father's plan to keep the peace at home. When we argue, my mother has to deal with the fallout."

"What's that mean?"

"My father has a way of freezing people out when he doesn't get his way."

Gabriella raised a brow. "Must be nice. I rather be ignored than be yelled at."

"If someone is yelling, at least you know they care." Why am was he sharing this with her? he never talked about his home life. Not even with Chad.

"Then my family must care about each other a lot." Gabriella laughed. "Mom and dad are going through a separation and my younger brother is still finishing off high school. He complains all the time that I got so easy. As if I wasn't a venting outlet for the last 10 years for both my parents. I know things I don't want to, I've heard things I can't forget, sometimes two homes really are better than one."

"That's rough."

"Sometimes people just fall out of love."

Troy lips pulled into a thin line. "You practically have to schedule an appointment with my father to see him. Mom and dad, they go to charity events and the country club together, but I wouldn't say those are dates." Sometimes it seemed like his father took his mother out just to show her off, like he would any of his other possessions. Like he had a few times with Troy."

"Is that why you do the golf-a-thon every year?"

"No." Troy shook his head. "My grandfather died of lung cancer even though he never smoked." The memory of it all still made him angry. "He used to hang out at the country-club bar with his friends before the club went nonsmoking. Inhaling all that secondhand smoke over the years did him in."

"I'm so sorry," her hand came over and she placed it on his right thigh. Nothing suggestive about it. Just a warm touch for comfort. He appreciated it.

"Thanks. I started the golf-a-thon to raise money for cancer research. It doesn't raise a ton of money. I know that. My family donates a ton of money to different causes, but I wanted to do something on my own. Does that make sense?"

"Yes." She was quiet for a bit as she watched things pass by, "Jenny and I wrote Fan Fiction together."

"Fan fiction… what like _50 Shades of Grey_ stuff?" _Hot._ His eyes traveled to her exposed thighs again.

"Oh god no," Gabriella shook her head. "I mean props to E.L. James. I've never actually read the books, but as a fan fiction author, I do feel a sense of pride for anyone who can launched career from it."

"So like what then?"

"We wrote stories about the two leading characters from _Maybe This Time._ Or at least we use too. I'm not really sure about it these days."

" _Maybe This Time_? Like the Disney Movie?"

"Yes." He heard her wince at the admission. "I know it sounds stupid. It's a hobby and it's really not a career anything." She paused for a moment. "I guess it can be seen as a waste of time."

"It's not stupid, or a waste of time," Troy heard himself rising to her defense. "It's a hobby, we don't go up to kids on little league baseball teams and tell them there's no point in enjoying themselves if they aren't planning to make a career out of it."

They were quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry it's just that, people normally make weird assumptions about fan fiction and get super judge-y." Gabriella shrug her shoulders. He could tell she felt uncomfortable. "That's why I don't talk about it."

It was strange seeing her this way. She'd been so confident, so independent. This side of her who seemed embarrassed and shy was … different. Something yielded from deep inside, and he suddenly felt a growing need to make her smile again. It was what he would have done if he were her real boyfriend, so even without meaning to, at least he was playing the part.

"So how did you and Jenny make it all work?" Troy asked, finding that he was actually curious.

"She wrote the stories and I proof read, at least that was how it work when we first got together as Jabriella."

"Jabriella?"

Gabriella smiled. "It was our pen name. Jenny came up with it." She let out a long breath. "After the first two stories I started adding things here and there. We found a rhythm and it worked really well. Before we knew what happened we had a following."

He jerked in surprise, "a following? You guys had a following?"

"Well Jabriella still does. I haven't really decided what to do. Our stories generally cultivate 5 thousand hits per chapter. That's a lot of people. People who expect the story to continue. People who don't know that Jenny…"

Troy understood. He could hear the pain in her voice, see it in the way she looked down at her lap. "How about we get something to eat instead?"

"I'm okay, I didn't mean to make you feel weird."

"I don't feel weird. I just want to take you to lunch."

"Are you asking me out?" she said, but the words came with an uncertainty

Maybe she didn't want to say yes. Most girls would have started smiling and giggling at that question. But not her.

"I mean yeah, it's just for our cover anyway. Might help if people saw us out and about." He'd hoped she couldn't tell that he actually wanted to spend time with her, it was probably best if they kept whatever this was light and easy. "I mean we're together, it's lunch time…"

He needed to stop talking. She still hadn't said yes.

"Well if it's part of our cover, I guess I could be hungry."

Sitting in the car with him, was intense. Nothing between them but the smell of his aftershave, sharp, pungent, mingling with smell of her own soft vanilla and spice perfume. It was easy to relax around him. To tell him things. To open up to him about her Fan fictions. She was embarrassed by how sincere she'd been about her emotions. She was so used to keeping it secret, use to assuming people would think she was a nerd or a freak … or a pervert.

Maybe Troy did think all those things. Maybe he was just being nice about it all.

When they stopped in front of the country club her stomach fell right down into her flats. "Here?"

Troy put the car in park and removed his keys. "Here."

"This is…"

"Yeah I know. It looks intimidating, but I'm more than sure you can handle it."

"Right," she said, feeling her lips twist. "I guess you girlfriend would be use to things like this."

"Got that right," Troy smile seemed to widen when she said the word _girlfriend,_ or was that her imagination?

Gabriella followed him inside, wishing she'd worn something a little more grown up rather than her old black Bowie Goblin King scoop tee and worn favorite green skirt. At least she'd braided her hair. When they were inside the hostess greeted them and a made a big deal about seeing Troy for lunch, going on and on about what an honor it was that he was here and if there was anything she could do to make his meal better.

"Just seat us, please," Troy said quietly.

They were taken to a table in the back. As they walked through the restaurant, Gabriella felt every eye on them. The people at the tables were her parents' age and so probably didn't really know Troy, but that didn't they didn't know who he was, didn't wonder who she was.

Once they were seated, the waiter dropped off menus and did a suck-up job similar to the one the hostess had performed.

"Dom, two glasses please," Troy said shooing him away.

Was this what it was like to be him? The power of just being a Bolton. Telling people what to do and waving them away.

"What did you order?" She whispered.

"Champagne," Troy smiled as he leaned forward with a smile.

"Oh, I don't drink," Gabriella said quietly leaning forward.

"There's a difference between not drinking and never having tried it," he said with a small smile.

Right. This was Troy after all, why wouldn't he just assume he knew best. Her eyes wondered over the items on the menu. There was nothing recognizable. How rich did you have to be in order for food to be unrecognizable? She wondered if the food itself would be recognizable. Gabriella raised a brow as she looked over at the prices, "This place is very…"

"Quiet."

"Expensive," Gabriella corrected, "Normal college students eat bad pizza and on occasion an order of really soggy cheese fries."

Troy's lip curved up in a smile.

The champagne arrived. The waiter poured their glasses. Then he was gone.

"Alone at last." Troy's eyes focused on hers. "Tell me more about you fan fiction."

"Oh I don't know if you want to hear about-"

He lifted his glass and held towards her for a toast. "I do."

Gabriella smiled and lifted her glass to meet his. "I feel like I'm on an episode of _Gossip Girl_ , with Chuck Bass."

As the first bit of liquid hit her lips, her tongue. She was enchanted. The bubbles tickled her nose and throat as she took another sip.

Holding the beautiful crystal glass in her hand made her feel like a princess. She'd never held anything like this.

"You like it?"

"I do."

"Great, now tell me why _Maybe This Time_?"

She smiled again, feeling a little warm and uneasy. "Why golf?"

"I enjoy the sport."

"I enjoyed the movie." She sat back in her seat, fighting back a triumphant smile.

Troy not to be out smarted for long, he bounced back quickly. "So you write stories about the show."

For a moment she wasn't sure what to say. It sounded absolutely childish when said out loud. Then again to call them stories, well… of course they were stories but they felt like so much more. Like the word stories was just too confining. Like it suffocated the concept of what she was doing.

"I wouldn't say that their stories."

"But aren't they?"

Gabriella frowned. "A story is _Goldilocks and The Three Bears._ A story is … I mean what I do… what Jenny brought to the table… it was almost real. It giving life to a world and joining a conversation that way beyond-"

Troy chuckled.

"You think this is funny?"

"Yes," Troy nodded, "But also sort of cool. You have a lot of passion for it. It's adorable. Tell me more." 

_Adorable._ Her mind tried to wrap around the world. Did she want to be adorable?

"I write other stuff too." She said softly as she looked down at the menu. "Fan fiction, for many people, is just a gateway drug to all other fiction writing." She shook her head. "I've never published anything, but I mean one day I might. I can only dream about it. Just the thought that people might read my words. Consider anything I have to say important. To able to start conversations about things that matter to me."

Her heart fluttered at the thought and she felt goosebumps ripple down her arms. She couldn't help herself, talking about her writing was just so… she never really done out loud to a total stranger before.

The waiter approached the table and she closed her menu. "We'll both have the linguine and two Ceasar salads to start," Gabriella said looking up at the waiter.

He bowed and walked away before Troy could say anything.

"What the hell was that?" he laughed.

"I knew you were going to try to order for me, so I beat you to it," she said folding her hands in front of her.

"The guys you go out with order for you?" he asked, still surprised.

Reaching for her glass of Champagne she lifted it as a reminder. "You did."

He smiled again, a genuine one. She was beginning to learn the differences. Most of the time he seemed to have this aloof personality but she was beginning to understand that wasn't how he was at all.

"I wasn't going to order for you. I only got the champagne," he said bringing hand up to rest his head on.

She winked. "Now we're even. I hope you like linguine."

"You know, I have to admit, it's refreshing being with someone who do doesn't expect me to take the lead all the time." His blue eyes seemed pleased and amused at the same time. Did he know what looking at a girl like her that way did to her insides?

She shallowed. She should know better than anyone that her like would never be a fairy tale. Fantasies didn't happen when your mom was a Guidance Counselor, when your dad was a construction worker. When you'd never really kissed a boy before.

She needed to remember that stuff like this didn't happen to girls like her. _Don't fall for the lie we're telling._

Troy was glad Gabriella was sitting across from him. It made it easier to get away with staring at her… and God did he want to. She was a sight to watch once she got going about her writing. Since they met he always found her to be attractive. Only now that he'd gotten to know her a little she was the kind of attractive that made it hard for him to think, hard to do anything other than stare.

When she ordered he'd been stunned. Stunned that this smart, confident, hot girl had taken control of their fake date. She maybe just a normal girl but she acted like some CEO in a Hollywood movie, of course he was beginning to learn that the girl sitting in front of him was anything but _just._

 _Who was this girl?_

"So enough about me," she said relaxing a little in her seat. "Tell me one thing you rather be doing right now than sitting here."

 _Nothing._ The automatic response made him shift a little, "You mean right now?" he replied. His eyes shifted to her lips. He wondered if they tasted like a soft warm cookie.

"Yeah, what are you passionate about." She tilted her head bring her hand up to adjust her glasses and he wondered what she would look like without them.

"I've always liked putting things together with my hands." Troy admitted quietly. He had dreams and aspirations, _wants_ like her. "But I'm on the legal track."

"So you're pre-law. I've seen some of Taylor's stuff out and about. Law … It's a big thing."

Troy nodded. "It's interesting." It had to be interesting. He had no choice. He'd never been given a choice.

"Sure it is," she smiled knowingly.

"When you understand things, they start to get interesting," Troy replied. It was what one of his high school teachers had told him. He studied so much because he was still searching for that. But Troy knew some of his knowledge had nothing to do with smarts. It had to do with pressure, with expectation. With what his family demanded of him.

Chasing what that teacher had promised that still hadn't come true.

"Tell me more about your engineering classes."

Troy smiled. As he began telling her about his ideas for the golf club he was designing. By the time their salad arrived he had a design drawn out on a napkin with a pink bubble gum scented pen. Because of course, her pens were scented. It was cute.

He looked up from his design and she was smiling pink cheeked, clearly buzzed, her smile a little droopy on one side, but adorable.

"You're really good at that," Gabriella nodded towards his napkin.

"Hobby," he said stabbing his salad with his fork.

"I bet it's more interesting than anything you've ever read in a law book."

"Troy?" the sound of her voice might as well have been the sound of glass breaking on the tile floor of the kitchen.

"Sharpay," he said looking up with a tight smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch with my mother, I didn't expect to see you here. Or her for that matter."

"Her name is Gabriella," Troy said putting his fork down.

"Right. How could I forget, I'm sure I've seen you name on a few bathroom doors."

Troy opened his mouth to say something but someone beat him to the punch.

"Hang out in a lot boys bathrooms?" Gabriella said shifting her salad around with her fork. "Isn't that like the whore calling the slut easy?"

Troy raised a brow.

"Honestly, you and her." Sharpay snapped. "Are you kidding me?" she glared at Troy. "You dumped _me_ for this freak show?"

"Shut it, Sharpay." His voice was a threatening growl.

Her mouth fell open, then it shut. Before either of them could comment she turned around and scurried off.

"She's cordial."

Troy shifted his attention back to Gabriella. "Whore calling the slut easy?"

"It's complicated. First draft insult at best."

Troy chuckled.


	4. Chapter 4

Troy lifted his fist to her door.

Yesterday after lunch he'd driven her back to campus and dropped her off at her dorm. As soon as he drove off he missed her. Which was probably why he'd been up at three in the morning for the first time in life reading _Maybe This Time_ fan fiction. He'd never would have figured himself for fan fiction. But after reading two stories written by Jabriella he come to find… it wasn't all that bad.

The writing was amazing, refreshing and surprisingly original. Jabriella was humorous and clever when it came to dialogue. He hadn't really remember much of _Maybe This Time_ from when it first appeared but he knew of it. Nothing he read last night was anything like what he remember.

He'd been aroused by the intimate scene between the characters. As odd as it seemed. And not by the leading actor but by Gabriella. By knowing he was reading something she may have wrote. Wondering just a little bit if she was exclusively funneling her own desires into her writing. He couldn't even picture the leading character, he just imagined Gabriella. Hear her voice in his head when he read, saw her saying the things that Lauren did.

And he now had a hunch that her favorite color maybe green. He'd never been more excited about figuring out something that minor about anyone before. But he was about her. He found himself curious to know everything about her.

 _Fake girlfriend, Fake girlfriend, Fake girlfriend._ He tried to remind himself this wasn't real. It wasn't her that night at the beach. But God, he suddenly wished it had been. By now word had spread around like wildfire. He was officially Gabriella's boyfriend. _Fake boyfriend_. And with that came other obnoxious rumors.

 _That Sharpay and Gabriella had a cat fight in the country club bathroom._

 _That Gabriella was pregnant with the hire to the Bolton throne._

Honestly, people had nothing better to do.

The last time he'd seen his father the scowl on his face had not been happy to see him. The feeling had been mutual.

They had an exchange about the rumors. How the perception was the reality. How rumors could make or break his name in the business. He lectured him about cleaning up his messes, and to him Gabriella was a mess. Nothing but a complicated mess that was beneath them. Not even worth the Bolton time.

Troy rolled his eyes.

Shifting his bag on his shoulder he pushed away the memory of his father's lecture and then pushed away the one of Sharpay insulting Gabriella, when he'd told Sharpay to shut up. Despite the pretending, that part had felt… very real.

When she pulled the door open she stared back at him with wide brown eyes. Her hair was tousled and up with a pen sticking out of it. She was wearing a blue oversized t-shirt and basketball shorts. A bright green strap of fabric went over her shoulder. A sharp contrast to her skin. Almost like a highlighted sentence on a page, his eyes were drawn to it. "Um, Troy?"

"Hey, I figured we could study."

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Now?"

"Yeah, I have putt-putt golf at three."

Her brow raised, "You play putt-putt golf?"

He smiled. "I know it sounds ridiculous. My mother is on the board at the senior center. We take a group of residents to play putt-putt gold every other week."

She shifted her weight as she crossed her arms. The cleavage it exposed sent a jolt straight down to parts that were suddenly beginning to stir. "That's awesome, but it so doesn't fit my image of you."

"So is it alright if I come inside?" he inquired. It was a better option than standing in the hallway with a growing erection.

She tugged at her shirt. "I'm a wreck. I obviously wasn't expecting company." She moved to the side and Troy crossed the threshold into her room. It smelled like chocolate chip cookies. Just as he expected.

"Why do girls always think they look bad when they're dressed comfortably?" he smiled as he looked at her rumpled bedsheets and laptop. There was notebook paper everywhere, even a few post-it notes on the wall. He liked the chaos.

When he turned towards her she was trucking loose strands behind her ear. "Gabriella, you look fine. Adorable, even. I like this look on you." He titled his head and smiled. "Don't you get it? Most guys don't give a shit about all the makeup and fancy outfits. We want to know what a girl's face really looks like under the junk they paint on." He came over and placed a soft touch on her cheek. "And when it looks like this? That's a good thing." He paused, taking a moment to admire her. "A very good thing," he said more softly.

She swallowed and licked her lips, and the image hit him hard and fast- pinning her against the door, kissing her. Tugging on those brown curls.

"Thank you," she murmured softly as she pulled away from him.

This was crazy. He didn't know why he felt this weird compulsion to be around her. To make her feel better.

To… kiss her.

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 5. Chapter 5_

 _From: MichaelFan89_

 _When are you going to update?_

Gabriella let out a sigh as she sat down on her bed. It was Friday afternoon, and Troy Bolton was in her dorm room. Taylor was going to have a fit when she found out she went to calculus instead.

"I can't believe it's already been a week."

"Neither can I." Troy pulled out her desk chair and took a seat. "What's in the box?"

She been wondering that herself lately. There was a strange feeling every time she touched it. Like an acknowledgement that she was about to leave a place. Like by going through the box not only would she miss Jenny but she would miss the person she was now at this time and place because by going thought it she would accepting that Jenny was really gone. "Jenny's things," she said quietly.

Troy raised a brow. "Have you looked inside?"

"No."

Troy made a face as he placed a hand on the box. "Why not?"

She didn't have any idea what to do with the things inside. She didn't have the time. She'd do it later. All of the excuses she'd told Taylor over the week seemed to dissipate. "I don't know if I can."

"What if we did it … together?" The last word seemed like a mutter.

"What?" her eyebrows pulled together.

"I go through it with you. So you're not _alone_." He said quietly. "My grandfather left me a cigar box when he past. I was afraid to open it for weeks."

"What was inside?"

"A rubix cube and picture of me and him flying a toy helicopter."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "What did he write on the back of the picture?"

Troy eyes shifted from the box to her causing her to still. As if he'd pinned her down. "To remember who you are, you need to forget what they told you to be."

Her mouth was suddenly dry.

"He wasn't a fan of my father," his lips pulled into a small smile.

Gabriella let out a breath. "You are nothing like who I thought you were."

"Well, we didn't exactly meet on the right foot, now did we?"

"No." Gabriella adjusted her glasses. Even before they met she thought he was an ego-centric rich asshole who just did whatever he wanted. Now she knew better. He was just guy with parents. Like everyone else. "No we didn't."

Troy smiled as he held out his hand. "Come here."

And like that she came. She was now standing in front of the box she'd been hiding from. Only this time there was a gentle hand on the small of her back and crisp clean smell that engulfed her and made her feel safe.

Troy. He made her feel safe.

Lifting the flaps she braced herself for the sadness that would surely overwhelm her. But they didn't. Instead she found herself looking down at random items. Gabriella smiled as she pulled out a framed picture of Jenny and her posing in front of the theater where they saw _Maybe This Time_ 3\. They were dressed as if they were walking the red carpet. Instead of just attending a movie premiere in their small home town.

"You look adorable."

"I was happy," Gabriella said with a smirk. "Whenever I was with Jenny, I was happy. She let me be me."

"What makes you think you can't be you?"

Gabriella held the photograph close to her chest. "Because I had other responsibilities. I was the oldest. I took care of everyone else. I kept things peaceful at home. I made sure I didn't upset anyone. I wanted to set an example for Derick."

"You're little brother?" Troy confirmed.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah." Gabriella put the frame to the side. " _Maybe This Time_ was an escape. It was something I had fun with and enjoyed privately and anonymously."

"But are you really anonymous when you have thousands of people reading your work."

"Yes," Gabriella huffed. "Are you kidding me? No one knows it me."

"And why not?" Troy shrugged, "Your stuff is really good."

 _Whoa._ The hair on her arms rose. Her stomach bottomed out and she reached for the chair just in case she might fall down. "You've read it."

Troy's face shifted, "Was I not suppose too?"

"No. Yes. I mean, I don't know." She placed a hand on her head. This was so embarrassing. _Oh my god all those love scenes._

 _Oh my god._

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked with a small smile.

"I'm mortified."

"I liked it."

If he didn't think she was a freak before he definitely thought it now. He probably thought she was a loser. What story had he read? How bad was she going to have to beg him to forget everything? _Wait._ "What?" she looked up at him.

"I _liked_ your worked."

"You're not just saying that are you?"

"You have my word." Troy smiled. "What the hell are you so afraid of?"

She tried not to laugh. Failed. "It's mortification not fear."

"Of?"

Turning her attention back to the box she pulled out a note pad. Her heart fluttered. It was their idea notebook. They would get ideas for stories and always write them in here. Like a filing system of sorts. "I think people feel comfortable mocking fan fiction authors because we're somehow less "real" or "legitimate" than other writers in their minds. Like they don't think we'll take personal offense to them mocking our work." She shook her head as she put the notebook to the side. "We're just as vulnerable as any other writer."

"People really make fun of you for writing stories?"

"I cannot tell you how many pieces of fan fiction I have thoroughly enjoyed writing that were then completely wrecked by someone tainting them with meanness. High school was miserable. We we're teased all the time. Hell it was the whole reason we came together and made Jabriella. So no one would know about us."

"Well I really liked it and I don't plan on tainting it with meanness."

"Good. Because I take our plots and the research that goes into them very seriously."

"Yeah, about that." He said with smirk, "I was going bring it up but thought we might not getting any studying done if I did." He gave her a simmering look that could've melted ice.

"No, no, no." Gabriella lifted a finger and pushed into his chest forcing him to take a step back. "You may not be who I thought you were, but you are still such a guy."

"Those scenes were admittedly my favorite parts."

Gabriella felt her cheeks get hot. "There is nothing wrong with writing sex scenes in fan fiction, as long as they are properly tagged for the sake of the young adult readers. That being said, "fan fiction" is not a synonym for porn." Gabriella tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. " _And_ sex is a natural and human part of life, if you don't like it, don't read it, and more importantly, just leave it alone."

"I won't argue with you on that," he said stepping closer. "I like sex. I think it's hot you like it too."

Her cheeks got hotter. Her mouth dried up like the dessert and she shifted so she was facing the box again. "Sex is what got us into this in the first place."

"No. Sharpay being delusional is what got us into this."

"Or maybe the fact that you gave up on her is what got us into this." Gabriella turned slightly to face him.

Troy's eyes narrowed. "It was… I didn't _give_ up on her. We just… didn't mesh."

"Hmm. Mesh. Interesting choice of words." She studied him intently for a moment. The way he looked at her sent ripples of tingles through her body. "I think I know why she's stalking you."

"Because she's crazy. We've established that."

Gabriella shook her head. "Nope. She needs closure."

Troy's mouth fell open. "Closure? Who are you, freaking Dr. Phil?"

"It's basic relationship etiquette, Troy. If you dump someone, you should at least try to do it respectfully." Gabriella said with an amused smile.

He shot her a warning glare. "I'll remember that when I dump you."

"Whoa," Gabriella held up her hand. "I'm going to be the one who _dumps_ you remember?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "I've never been dumped. I can't believe I ever agreed to that."

"First time for everything."

He snorted with laughter. "You're crazy, you know that, right? Tell me about the last time somebody broke up with _you_ and did it reasonably. I bet all your exes ran away screaming."

"Way to treat your _girlfriend,_ Troy. Really nice." She reached back into the box but he grabbed her arm pulling her closer to him instead and looking down into her wide eyes.

"The way I see it," he said, his eyes taking her face with a growing smile, "as of right now, you're still _my girlfriend._ Nobody's dumped anybody."

She felt caged, like a butterfly trapped under glass. Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip.

"So instead of talking about who's dumping who, maybe we ought to put our energy somewhere else."

"Like where?" Her voice was barely whisper, and her gaze darted to his mouth.

"Like convincing everyone we're for real, not fake." He leaned in closer, his lips just millimeters from hers. "We need to sell it. So kissing might be a good place to start."

Her eyelids fluttered like a panicked butterfly. She couldn't help it; her entire body was suddenly on fire. "B-but there's no one around that we need to convince."

Despite her words she arched toward him, it was like a pull she couldn't control.

"Practice makes perfect, doesn't it?" he closed his eyes and brushed his lips across hers, barely making contact, but it was enough to light her up inside. She wanted more. A lot more. Fake, real, whatever the hell this was, she wanted more.

"Hey Gabi, class let out early wanna-" Taylor's voice sliced through the fog that had taken over her mind. Instantly she pulled away from him and he released her immediately.

"Hey?" Gabriella said adjusting her glasses and looking back at Taylor who was paused in the doorway staring at Troy with a certain curiosity.

"Hi Troy," she said with a knowing smile.

"Hey," he waved. "Stopped by for a tutoring session."

"Right," she crossed her arm and took a step into the room, shutting the door behind her. "Well don't mind me. I've got some stuff to do." She said pointing at her desk.

"Yeah," Troy nodded. After a moment of silence between them he let out a sigh, "I'm gonna go use the restroom for a moment. I'll be back."

Gabriella nodded and watched as he left the room. As soon as the door closed her eyes flew across the room to Taylor whose sparkling eyes danced with speculation. "I can't tell if you want to kill Troy or kiss him."

"Me either," Gabriella whispered.

"Do you want me to disappear?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I can't be trusted."

Taylor let out a laugh as she took a seat at her desk. "Obviously."

She turned back to the box and pulled out a laptop that was at the bottom cause some other random things to shift around. There was a simple plain white card taped to it. On it she recognized Jenny's hand writing from the many letters they send back and forth.

Her fingers went numb. Her heart thumped.

"Hey Gabi, you alright?" Taylor asked softly.

"Yeah," she said nodding in Taylor direction but not able to look away from the note. Her knees shook and she backed up so she was sitting down on the edge of her bed. She gently pulled the note off the laptop. Placing the laptop aside she held the note with both hands.

 _Brie,_

 _I've learned a lot this year. I learned that things don't always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. Like that time, we planned on being college roommates, or like the time we planned to run into the cast of Maybe This Time and become best friends._

 _I've also learned that there are things that go wrong that don't always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. Like your parents, it was never your fault. It was never your obligation to step up the way you did. But that's what I admire about you the most. You're the peacemaker in your family and maybe even the strongest person I've ever met._

 _Most importantly, my condition is has taught me that you can get through the bad times and keep looking for better ones as long as you have people who love you._

 _Even if we say goodbye and our paths never cross again, I hope carry a piece of me within you. I hope you remember our wordless conversations, our inside jokes and silent exchanged smiles._

 _I hope you never forget to believe in yourself, I hope you never lay alone at night doubting your own self-worth, I hope you always know that your loved, beyond measure._

 _Inside this box is my laptop. I want you to have it. I also want you to have everything that's on it. There is no one else I trust more than I trust you with its contents. Everything for Crashing into You is on this laptop. I am very grateful to have found a friend in you and the best co- writer a friend can ask for._

 _You were never just a Beta Reader._

 _These last few weeks at the hospital have been unbearable and these stories have probably kept me alive more than you know. Please believe in yourself and please give Michael and Lauren the ending we both know they deserve. I've included the account user and password so that you now have full access the account._

 _Love always Jenny,_

 _P.S. You can do this!_

 _Username: jabriella_

 _Password: J$Nny125_

A sob escaped from her lips and she was immediately pulled against a solid surface as warm arms wrapped around her. She hadn't been aware that he'd come back, or how long she'd been staring at the note before she fell apart.

But she was grateful for the way his strength felt against her when she felt like she had none.

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 5. Chapter 5_

 _From: Lesliefan9_

 _Update soon._

Troy sighed and glanced across the room towards Gabriella as she silently sat with Jenny's laptop. Friday had been hard. She cried for a while and he sat there holding her until it subsided. It was the least he could do. He just wished he didn't have to leave right after to meet his mother and her group for the putt-putt event.

It was Sunday and he hadn't seen her in since that afternoon. Now there she was sitting in a big chair with Jenny's laptop in her lap and her fingers vigorously typing away like a mad woman. He wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to walk up to her, kiss her forehead and just make sure she was okay.

Mostly he just wanted to sit with her.

He held her pink bubble gum pen in his hands. He'd never returned that day they had lunch. He couldn't explain why. He just wanted it. The same way he couldn't explain why he wanted Gabriella. He just did.

Making a decision he tucked the pen away in his bag and made his way over. She didn't even notice him approaching her. Didn't even pause when he stopped in front of her. The clicking of the keys filled the air between them. Each tap as punctuating as the last.

"Hey,"

The typing stopped. And her eyes looked up at him. "Troy?"

"How's it going?" _Lame._ He wished he had something better to say. He wanted to be cool. He wanted to impress her.

"I'm think I'm stuck."

Troy made a face as he took in her positon on the big comfy chair. She'd kicked off her shoes revealing a pair of orange socks with white poka-dots she had slung over the arm. "You don't seem stuck."

Like she read his mind. "With my story," she let out a sigh and looked at the screen. "Lauren is being difficult."

At that he laughed. "How?"

"She won't do what I want her to and it's frustrating."

Yeah, because that made a lot of sense. Troy lifted his bag off his shoulder. "Mind if I have a seat?"

Gabriella looked at the empty chair across from her and shrugged. "I don't mind."

He smiled wickedly and placed his bag against her chair, then he picked up her laptop from her lap earning a surprised look as he ushered her into a standing position. Then he sat down pulling her into his lap and handing her back her laptop. After a moment of shifting so she was comfortable he leaned back in the chair and smiled as she sat in her lap with her feet hanging off the side of chair.

"Is she here?" Gabriella asked adjusting the laptop on her lap.

"No, but we're not alone either." He said enjoying the pink tint on her cheeks. She felt good against him. It was nice holding her like this. "So tell me, why you're frustrated?"

Gabriella let out a sigh and she relaxed against him. "I want Lauren to open up to Michael, but so far there hasn't been the right moment for her to do so."

"You know that you're the writer right?"

"I know that." Gabriella said with a knowing smile.

Troy made a face, "So why not just write it the way you want it to happen."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Because that's not how it works."

"It isn't?"

Gabriella smiled. "Writing a story is different. It's not so much as writing something down but more like watching something happen and documenting it."

"Like a movie?"

"More like dreaming while your awake." Gabriella shrugged. "I let the characters tell me what they want to do, I may create them but once their alive and real to me … I'm not the storyteller anymore. They are."

Troy felt goosebumps on his arms. She was sweet. Funny. Feisty. Smart. A whole bunch of things he wouldn't have guessed after watching her flutter around campus. "You're something else, you know that."

"I've been told."

"Did you always want to be a writer?"

Gabriella smiled. "I always have been. I can't remember a time in my life where I wasn't making up stories, writing them down, or even drawing them out when I didn't know how else to express myself."

He smiled to himself as he let his hand rest on her thigh. "Read me what you got."

She whirled her eyes up to meet his. "You're joking?"

"Nope." Troy grinned, his confidence rising. "Read it to me."

He watched her look back down at her laptop. After a moment she took a deep breath and began reading.

 _Before heading to the hotel they stopped at a small mini mart. They made their way through the aisles coming to a stop at the cookie display rack. Lauren eyed the cookies debating between Oreos and chocolate chip._

 _"I'm an Oreo cookie fan," Michael said reaching for the package of cookies._

 _"Bet you're a twister."_

 _Michael smirked. "Oh yea, well I bet you're a dunker."_

 _Lauren shrugged her shoulders as she picked up a bag of chocolate chip cookies. "I am, what I am."_

 _Michael let out a small laugh as he began to follow her towards the register. They quietly paid for their items and then began walking again._

 _"Your hair looks nice like that," he said pointing at it._

 _"Jackie did it."_

 _Michael didn't say anything._

 _"So what's up with you and Alyssa?" she said opening her bag of chocolate chip cookies._

 _"I don't know," Michael said opening his own bag of cookies._

 _"But you like her?"_

 _Michael shrugged, "She's hot."_

 _"And that's all it takes to be date worthy?"_

 _"Kind of," he nodded. "Yeah."_

 _"So just like that, that's all it takes to be with the infamous Michael Hilton."_

 _Michael's eyes widen as he glanced over at her. "You make me sound like a super star."_

 _"Aren't you?"_

 _Michael frowned. "Well yeah, but it's not like that."_

 _"Then what's it like?"_

 _"My friends know me as Michael Hilton, the popular guy. It can be exhausting pretending all the time to be a certain type of guy when you're not."_

 _"Then don't be that guy. Be you."_

 _"That's not easy either." Michael laughed nervously. "The expectations are… I mean people think..." He let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "It's complicated."_

 _Lauren rolled her eyes as she walked alongside him. "Well I think we need rules."_

 _"Rules?"_

 _Lauren nodded, "I think the problem back there was that we weren't expecting it. So we couldn't sell it was well as we would have." Her stomach tighten as she thought about kissing him again. "Next time we'll have a plan."_

 _"A plan? You mean …a.."_

 _"Kissing plan. Yeah." She nodded. "So let's work this out. Maybe each time we run into Alyssa, I kiss you." Her cheeks grew hot._

 _"Right and when we see Mitch, I'll kiss you."_

"Hold on," Troy tilted his head as he stopped her from reading. "Why didn't we think of a kissing plan?"

Gabriella gaffed. "You're the only one of us making someone jealous."

Troy shook his head. "I don't want to make anyone jealous. We're just doing some damage control after my rumor flopped." He watched her shake her head. Rolling his eyes he shifted and glanced around at the causal people hanging around. There were a few girls at a table a few feet away. Their phone pointed in their direction. People were always using him. Always throwing his name around like it meant something to be associated with his family. Even in the smallest way. Maybe this was his chance to use them for a change. "Besides they're probably going to want us to kiss."

Gabriella jerked in his lap her eyes shifted around at table in question. "Buttons." She mumbled. "Why can't people mind their own beeswax?"

"Do you just not curse?"

She spun around to face him. "What?"

Troy smiled. "Fart, buttons, beeswax." He rattled off. "Don't get me wrong it's adorable, I'm just curious? You don't curse do you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Words are powerful. If you're going to use them, you might as well make them mean something."

He liked that.

Troy smiled as he watched her look back at her laptop and type something out. She had this crease in her forehead that seemed to appear whenever she concentrated. "I want to kiss you." He arched an eyebrow, keeping his gaze pinned on hers.

She jerked as she looked up at him caught off guard. Her cheeks went pink. "What?"

Had he been reading her wrong? He'd thought she might agree to that suggestion, but instead she seemed terrified.

"Or not if the idea is that unpleasant," he said with a sharpness in his voice.

Gabriella's pink face turned redder. "It's not that." she hesitated. "I've just never kissed anyone before."

He'd figured she was less experienced than him, but this was beyond even that. How could a girl this beautiful have never been kissed? And if she'd never been kissed, that also mean she'd never … wow.

"You have no idea, it's more like a pity relationship."

And without a second thought Gabriella launch herself at him. She'd only meant to sit up but her momentum sent him back into the chair and she was now inches from his lips.

"Um… hi," he said quietly.

"Hi." His eyes were amazing up close- crystal blue.

Sharpay's voice was louder now, just around the corner, less than seconds away from discovering them.

He reached a hand to the back of her neck. He pulled her towards him, the desire in his eyes spelling out his intentions.

"Don't do it unless you mean it," she whispered, inches from his lips.

He immediately paused, his eyes changing from desire to worry. He turned her head and kissed her cheek instead. She was disappointed and relieved all at once. She reminder herself what they were really doing.

"Oh," she heard Sharpay gasp.

Gabriella shifted in Troy's lap as if they'd been caught. "Oh, hi shar," Gabriella meant it to come out as a joke but it came out breathy and serious.

Troy ran a hand through his hair, trying to hide his frown. "Hi, Sharpay. Did you need something?"

"No," she said shifting her designer bag further up her shoulder. "Just passing through." Her and her friend exchanged a look and Gabriella shift a bit, suddenly uncomfortable. Then Troy looped his arm around her waist he was holding onto her.

"Hey," Sharpay said as if whatever she was about to say had been fleeting thought. "So you're mom's charity dinner on Friday? Does she need me to help out? I know how stressed out she gets about these things."

 _Exactly._ Gabriella smirked, how long had she been holding that in her back pocket? "Actually I'm already helping out. It's all taken care of."

"Sure is." Troy added as he leaned forward and kissed the nook of her neck. The feel of his lips there caused shivers and tingles to course through her.

"Right." Sharpay's smile faltered just for a moment. Then she recovered as if nothing had happened. "Well, then have fun."

Once Sharpay was far enough away Gabriella shifted so there was more space between them. "That went well."

"Yeah."

"It was alright that I said that right?" Gabriella asked suddenly sense he wasn't happy about something.

Troy leaned back in the seat bringing a hand up to shuffle his hair around. "You're going to have to meet my mother." He murmured resting his head in his hand as he stared at her.

"Oh," Gabriella felt a small blush of heat spread over her face.


	5. Chapter 5

FYI I'm updating as I stand outside Wrigley Field! Waiting for parade! Congrats Cubbies! (Sorry posting from my phone took away the italicized word font. going in and putting back now.)

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 6. Chapter 6_

 _From: Nancy_

 _Wow...in one chapter you go from "potentially intriguing, original story" to "10 Things I Hate About You rip-off". Don't get me wrong it's one of my favorite movies but everything here has been said and done before. Yawn._

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 6. Chapter 6_

 _From: LaurenLover74_

 _Is this even the same story? So this is going to be one of "those" typical stories. Fake relationship, pretend to like a person and then drop them for some reason or another...? This is so old! I thought this was going to be a really good story but I guess not._

"Mittens." She looked at the shattered shards of glass on the floor. Nothing she did today went well. From posting chapter six last night way until now. She was going to be late for ASL. Her hands were shaking as she began picking up the pieces of glass. She lifted the framed pictures of her and Jenny.

She had it on her desk and then forgetting she placed it there when she carelessly swung her bag right into it. Now she'd have to replace the frame.

"Dang it!" she yelped and lifted her finger to stop the bleeding. She felt the sting of tears begin to from. There was no time for this. She had to get to class. Quickly she picked up what she could and put the broken frame on her desk.

She began making her way to class. Shaking her hand a few times trying to numb the sharp sting on her index finger.

She should retract the chapter she posted last night.

She shouldn't have posted it. Why had she? They were right the story was so typical. It was shit. Everything she'd written was shit. She was ousted. They knew she wasn't Jenny. The jig was up. She been idiot to write anything at all.

She stumbled as she climbed the steps up two at a time to make it to class. Just as she crossed the threshold Mr. Stevens was in the middle of lecture about pronouns.

"Good afternoon Miss Montez. So happy you can grace us with your presence."

Everyone was staring at her as she made a beeline to her seat were Troy was staring at her with a raised brow.

"You alright?" he muttered.

"Great," she said sinking into her seat and hoping for humiliation to sallow her whole. She could feel people staring at her. She hated being late. She hated being disruptive. She sat through the next twenty minutes of lecture with her arms folded. When the silent part of class began Troy shifted so he was facing her.

 _Bad morning?_

She didn't want to talk about. _Yea._

Troy nodded seeming to get the hint. _You going to be alright forward helping out with my mom?_

Gabriella grabbed his hands and let out a long breath as pulled back and shaped her hands. _For. For helping._

 _Oh_. Troy looked down for a moment. _Are you?_ He raised his eyes to meet hers.

 _Should be fine._

Troy sat up a little. _I read that chapter last night._

Gabriella's eyes widen as she furiously signed. _You're still reading it._

 _Did you expect me to understand that?_

Gabriella narrowed her eyes. _Why are you still reading it?_ She signed much slower.

Troy shrugged. _I figured, I should since we talk about it._

 _Your overly-aggressive "supportiveness" for my hobby is one faint shade away from mockery._ She signed slowly making sure he got every word.

"What the hell did I do?" he furrowed his brow.

"Mr. Bolton." They both turned to see Mr. Stevens frowning at them.

 _My bad._ Troy signed ducking his head as he turned back to Gabriella. _What did I do?_

Gabriella sat up straighter as she took a much needed deep breath. _Nothing. The story just … it flopped._

 _How?_

 _They don't like it. I was worried that no matter how much confidence I'd shown on the outside that deep down they still wouldn't like me. And I was right. I'm not her, I can't do-_

Troy grabbed her hands. He seemed frustrated then he let out a breath and released her hands. He motioned for her to slow down. _Stop freaking out. I can't keep up._

She couldn't do anything right today. Maybe she should just pass on lunch. Save Troy the embarrassment of having to introduce her to his mom. She knew he wasn't looking forward to it. He was quiet for so long that she looked up to see if he was signing and she missed it. His eyes were on her, searching for something she wasn't sure she possessed.

 _Tell me why you think it's a flop._

 _They called it typical._

He smiled a little as he tilted his head to the right. _And is it?_

The question caught her off guard. _Well, it wasn't my intention. There's just a lot of pressure for it to be something great and I don't think I can deliver it._

 _So, what was your intention?_

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. _I just wanted it to be romantic._

He nodded and shifted back in his chair. _Do you think what you wrote was romantic?_

Gabriella's smile dipped a bit. She thought what she wrote was a cop out. She just had no idea what to do. This wasn't her story. It was like she was sitting in a theater looking up at the screen and trying to guess what happens next only the movie had paused with no indication of picking up again. _I thought it was._

That earned a smirk from him. His smile was inviting and friendly. It was odd how she felt so safe to talk to him. Even though her gut seemed cautious.

 _You don't think it's romantic._

Gabriella bit her lip as she stared at him. She thought it was. Now she wasn't so sure.

 _So fix it._

Gabriella tossed her head back in annoyance. _It's not that easy, half the story is already written and posted, if I change the plot now I might just be hunted down and killed._

His eyebrows pulled together, and he gets a cute little wrinkle just above his nose. Whoa, did she just think he was cute? He was, but she shouldn't be thinking it. _So what I'm hearing is… you're in need of a bodyguard? Why do you care so much about what other people think about your story?_

 _They're my readers. I care what they think._

Troy raised a brow. _Remember when you told me this you have always been a writer._

 _That. That you have always been a writer._

Troy rolled his eyes and corrected himself. Then after a moment he continued. _Ultimately, you are not writing for your readers. Your just writing what comes to you. Isn't the reader the one taking a risk that they might like it or might not?_

Gabriella opened her mouth then shut. She lifted her hands and then paused.

 _Have you liked every single book you have ever read? Every movie you saw? Do you like everyone you meet?_

 _No._ Gabriella shoulders slumped as she looked away from him for a moment.

 _So then it's stupid to think everyone going to like everything you write._

That made her vision blur. She didn't like being called stupid. He must of sensed it because he immediately held his hands up in surrender.

 _Okay, then why do you write fan fiction?_

Gabriella inhaled slowly as she tried to come up with a profound answer, something inspiring and defining. She exhaled. She imagined herself at her laptop, trying to find the words for how it felt. What happened when it was good, when it was flawless, when the words were coming out of her before she knew what they were, bubbling up from inside her, satisfying her with each word on the page. Like play softball, feeling the overwhelming satisfaction of hitting the ball with bat. The heart thrusting beat of your foot as you run around the bases, the joy of someone hoisting you up on their shoulders when you've won the game.

Troy hand waved in front of her face catching her attention.

 _I write to be somewhere else. To stop hearing the voices in my head. To disappear. To stop. To just be still and not be anything or anywhere at all._

 _Then who cares about two shitty reviews._

Gabriella eyes jerked up as she caught him smiling.

 _Yeah, I read them too. Guess what? There were seven good ones right after them._

Gabriella smiled. A flush bringing heat straight to her face. They smiled at each other.

"Alright class, time for your assignment this week. It's an easy one. Everyone needs to prepare a 2 minute speech, on anything they like, but it must be completely done in sign."

The announcement was met with a few groans and Gabriella watched as Troy tossed his head back with a sign.

"We can practice," she said nudging his arm softly.

If he brought Gabriella to the banquet, would that quiet the rumors or inflate them? How would his father feel about it? He ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't entirely comfortable with bringing Gabriella around his father. He would disapprove.

He was sure of it.

"Troy darling!" his mother was genuinely excited to see him. For that he was grateful. She was standing in the middle of the large banquet room. In all her take charge glory.

"Hi mom," he said as he approached her and leaned into her open arms for a hug. He loved his mother dearly. She was always there for him when his father got to be too much. He didn't want to lie to her, he felt guilty knowing he was about to.

"Who is this?" His mom whispered in his ear as she looked over his shoulder at Gabriella. "She's adorable."

Troy smiled, unable to help himself. Adorable suited Gabriella. She suited him. He inhaled deeply at the thought. "I'd like you to meet Gabriella, she's my girlfriend." It felt good introducing her as his girlfriend. Too good.

"Hi," Gabriella lifted her hand for a handshake.

"Oh honey, handshakes are for business deals. In this family we hug."

He held back a laugh as he watched his mother arms wrap around Gabriella. He wondered if Gabriella had ever been embraced so tightly. By the looks of it this was a first.

When his mother released her she turned towards him. "Your sister's here. She in the back with Alex."

"Sweet!" Troy tapped his thighs. More lies.

"So Gabriella, I assume you're here to help us out?" his mother said with a big smile as she guided Gabriella further into the center of the room. "We have much to do."

"Be careful mother, don't scare her off. I actually like this one." He sent a wink in Gabriella's direction earning one of those nervous smiles he was actually beginning to find adorable.

He watched as the two began talking about centerpieces. He couldn't deny that watching her did something to him. And watching her type did something even stronger. The way she stuck her tongue out or looked so completely focused and peaceful at the same time.

Things were getting complicated. He couldn't tell if it was a façade or not.

Why should he even care?

But more than all that, he hated that they had to lie. Lying was not his thing. His father did it all the time. It was a horrible habit.

"Troy!"

Troy spun around to see Alex running his way with a red superman cape rippling behind him. Quickly predicting Alex's next move Troy held his arms out just in time to catch his nephew.

"He's having a good day." Megan said as she followed behind with a tote back slung over her shoulder. "Yesterday was a different story," she lifted her sleeve to reveal bite marks.

"Tantrum or Sensory Meltdown?" Troy asked. Many people think the words "tantrum" and "meltdown" mean the same thing. And they can look very similar when you see a child in the middle of having one. But for kids who have sensory processing issues or who lack self-control, a meltdown is very different from a tantrum.

A tantrum is an outburst that happens when Alex is trying to get something he wants or needs. Some kids with learning and attention issues are more prone to tantrums.

For Alex a meltdown is a reaction to feeling overwhelmed. It happened when there was too much sensory information to process. The commotion of an amusement park might set him off, for instance. Unfortunately Alex sometimes needs to be restrained for his own safety, and it doesn't always end well for his sister.

"Meltdown," Megan said coming to stand beside them. "The grocery store was crowded, I tried to be quick but …" she shrugged and Troy nodded as he looked back at Alex who was staring at Troy's hair and lifting piece of it so it looked spiked up.

"How you doing buddy?" Troy smiled.

Hands to self. He signed.

Troy smiled as he looked back a Megan. "Lesson of the week?"

Megan nodded as she let out a long breath. His stomach twisted, because Megan's face looked worried. He could see himself in Megan, the same blue eyes, strong nose, the same wide mouth, but somehow on his sister it looked elegant.

"You guys doing alright?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just a little overwhelming sometimes." Megan tilted her head slightly before giving a gentle smile. "Who's she?"

Troy shifted Alex in his arms and follow Megan's eyes out to where Gabriella was. "That," he thought about it for a moment. "Is my girlfriend. Her name is Gabriella."

"Wow," Megan placed her index finger against her bottom lip as she tried to hide a smile. "She's not blond."

Troy expected a lot of question. How they met and how long they had been together. He hadn't been expecting that. Troy shook his head, "I don't only date blonds."

"Ha," his sister chuckled. "You sound like dad when he's guilty."

Troy hated that. He hated being compared to him. "I'm not like him."

"Relax, I didn't mean it like that." Megan comforted as she looked back at him with concern. "How long have you been seeing her?"

"Two weeks," he caught himself frowning. The weeks had gone faster than the usual drag, and it worried him.

What would he do after they broke up? After their specified time was through?

He also couldn't deny feeling the pressure he sensed coming off everyone around them. around campus the whispers where that Gabriella wasn't just his girlfriend, she was the love of his life.

He liked Gabriella, a lot, but what they were saying was crazy. This whole thing was crazy. He'd never really been in a serious relationship with a girl, never wanted to get that close.

"Alex. Eyes on eyes."

Alex shifted from Troy's hair to Megan, meeting her eyes.

"What do we call Uncle Troy's girlfriends?"

"Barbie!" Alex shouted enthusiastically.

Troy made a face as she looked at his sister who was staring back at him with a joking smile. Gasping with a fake pained expression he looked down at Alex. "You gossip about my love life?"

"Keep hands to self." Alex shrugged.

"You rascal," Troy chuckled as he set Alex down on the ground and watched him take off running so he could make his superman cape fly.

"I'm not sure I buy it," Megan smirked. "Unless she can grow six inches and get a boob job on command."

Troy rolled his eyes. "I am not that shallow."

"Yes you are," Megan nudged him playfully. Although at the moment he wasn't feeling very playful. "You don't date smart girls. You never have."

"Well now I am." Troy said a bit more aggressively then he intended.

"Alright," Megan's smile faltered. "Jeez I'm only kidding. I've never seen you so serious before."

"I just… I like her." Troy crossed his arms over his chest. "I like her a lot."

"So…" Megan shrugged her shoulders as she motioned towards their mother. "You trust mom not to scare her?"

"I trust no one."

"Now you sound like dad." Megan let out a laugh as she began walking towards their mother and Gabriella. Leaving Troy standing off to the side with a scowl on his face.

By the time dinner rolled around, the gloomy feelings from earlier in the day had worn off. In their place as a hungry rumble. Troy had been a bit distant for a while. Almost like he was mad at her for something, only she couldn't recall doing anything wrong.

He still seemed a little bothered even after his sister Megan ruffled his hair and kissed him good night on the cheek. She could see his features soften when she whispered in his ear. They exchanged words and he his mood shifted. She wondered what that was about. Not that she'd ever ask. It was probably personal. And they didn't really talk about the personal things unless he willingly brought it up.

She could also tell he adored his sister. Admired her even. To be honest so did she. Megan seemed so strong and yet elegant at the same time. She was the perfect blend of his mother and himself. It left her wondering exactly what Mr. Bolton was like.

She felt a tug on her skirt and she shifted to meet Alex. His light blue eyes looking up at her with a smile. _I had fun._

 _Me too._

He was very good at signing. And as much as she was going to hate admitting it, Alex was funny. He took everything so literal, and he loved superheroes. Had a cape for every day of the week apparently. And he loved to talk with his hands.

She suddenly understood why Troy was taking ASL. Why it was important for him to understand and get better with his signing. She made a note to work on it with him more.

"So, any thoughts of running yet?" Troy whispered appearing at her side. That was another thing. She liked when he did that. When he was just there. It made her feel like he was really there. There for her whenever she needed him.

"No, I like your mom. She's inspiring."

Troy raised a brow. "Really? Shar always called her exhausting." He brushed a piece of lint off her shirt and she smiled at the gesture.

"Sharpay isn't the kind of girl who would tie twine around 150 Mason jars." To be honest the more she got to know Troy, someone like Sharpay didn't seem like the right match. But who was she to say that. This entire arrangement was only temporary.

Troy laughed as he picked up the Mason jar she'd just finished. "But you are?"

"My cousin had a sweet 16 last year. I hot glued a 150 mini mad hatter hats." She shrugged, "It was Alice in Wonderland themed."

"That's impressive." Troy smiled at her with an impressed expression.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "So are we coming to this thing?"

Troy let out a sigh, "If you're up for it."

"Will Sharpay be there?"

"Likely."

Gabriella thought about for a moment. "Maybe we can double with Taylor and Chad. We do owe her that."

"Right," Troy chuckled. "I almost forgot about that. I'm sure Chad's going to be thrilled."

"He'll be nice to her, won't he?" Gabriella asked a little worried. She knew they were friends, but that was really all she knew about Chad. Other than the common fact that he too lived the country club member life like Troy.

Troy nodded as if reading her mind, "He's not like me."

Gabriella eyes widen, "I didn't mean that-"

"Yeah you did," he laughed.

"Sorry," she winced.

Troy wrapped his arms around her in a hug and buried his face into her hair. "Thanks for today. I know I was a little moody."

Gabriella closed her eyes. "I was distracted. Besides it was fun." And she was surprised to realize that she meant that. Troy and his family were easy to be around.

He tightened one arm around her waist and his other hand moved up her back. Maybe he wanted to take advantage of the last few moments of physical contact they'd have.

"I had fun too. Let's get you back home."

He let her go and reached for her hand. She smiled and took it turning around to see his mom and sister standing off to the side staring at them. She should have known his reason for physical contact was all just part of the lie.

When they pulled up in front of her dorm she let out a breath and reached for the handle. "Thanks for earlier. Bad reviews sucks."

"Are you hungry?"

She looked up at her dorm than back at him. "I should really write something tonight. People are upset Jabriella hasn't posted in a while."

"Ouch," he placed a hand on his chest. "You did not just turn me down so you could sit alone in your room and write."

Gabriella couldn't help but smile. "I did."

Troy chuckled and turned off the car.

She had one foot on the pavement. "What are you doing?"

He was out of the car and coming around the other side. "You type, I'll read."

"Read?"

"I'll even order a pizza."

Gabriella sat in his passenger seat staring up at him. "Don't you have things to do?"

"I owe you dinner, and some proof reading," he shrugged his shoulders. "Lest I can do for 150 Mason jars."

If her heart hadn't already been free falling for Troy Bolton. It certainly stumbled around in her chest at the sight of him now. He walked behind her up to her room. Her heart hammered in her chest with each step.

She practically jumped out of her skin when his cell phone went off.

"Hey," his tone was different. As if he was annoyed. She didn't look back, just kept walking. "Nothing just chilling with Gabi."

Gabi. Jenny use to call her that. The thought made her frown a little.

"I was going to order pizza, Netflix and chill, you know what mean."

That made her spin around as she stopped at her door. Gabriella bit her lip. Her heart felt like it was exploding and sending tissue flying into her limbs. Apparently pretending to be Troy's girlfriend also meant pretending to have sex with him. Considering she'd never even kissed a guy before, she definitely didn't know how to process that. Her expression must have given her away because Troy shook his head.

"I'm on speaker phone," he whispered pulling the phone from his ear.

"I still don't see how that was justified."

He smiled for a moment then brought the phone back to his ear. "Yeah let me know what the plans are. Talk you guys later."

She could hear booing on the other end of the phone.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

Troy hung up the phone. "It's just the guys?"

"I don't want people talking about me like that."

Troy made a face, "I told you we need to sell this, Gabriella." He smirked. "Pretty sure I just did."

"Who were you trying to sell? Them? Sharpay? Or me?"

His eyes widened and she watched his Adam's apple as he swallowed.

Gabriella cringed. "Telling people about our sex life was not part of the deal."

"Our sex life is how all this started."

"Your sex life." Gabriella spit out. "Your blunt disregard for others got us into this."

"Alright, alright." He held up his hands in surrender. "I see where you're coming from. Sorry I didn't know you were a that kind of girl."

Gabriella stood in front of her door. "I not a kind girl. I'm a person. A person who doesn't want the next guy she dates to think she's a twat." She didn't want him to think it.

Troy eyes widen. "Right."

"I know you have a reputation but before all this so did I."

"Right." He looked down at his phone again. "You know what, maybe it's better if I just go."

That made her heart sink. She didn't want to leave. A part of her was actually looking forwards to hanging out with him. Then it dawned on her that baby he wasn't feeling the same way. That maybe he'd just wanted to hang out to keep this façade going. "Oh."

They stood there quietly as a two girls walked by them in their pajamas, giggling and whispering about bonfires. She felt the heat in her cheeks. Was everyone talking about her. Not only had she disappointed her readers, but now she was disappointed in herself. How could she have let any of this happen.

"Good night."

She nodded and watched as he walked down the hall the way they came.

 _"Mitch isn't a dork." She whispered, but for a second, she couldn't see Mitch's sweet face in her mind's eye. Instead all she saw was the stony face badass drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. She swallowed. "Mitch is a sweetheart."_

 _Michael shrugged his shoulders and he let his hands settle on the wheel, "Dork. Sweetheart. Semantics." His lips curved in a mocking smile that did something to her stomach._

 _"I-I don't think anyone would ever believe this," she stammered. "That you and I would…" she blushed, unable to finish the sentence._

 _"That we'd what Lauren?" He unbuckled his seat belt and turned towards her. Her breath caught in her throat as he reached out and touched her hair, twirling a long strand around his finger. He leaned in so close she could see a fain shadow of stubble on his jaw. "Go to a dance together?" He shifted even closer, moving in so that his lips barely brushed her cheek as he whispered in her ear. "Or just hook up?"_

 _This wasn't … he wasn't … but she didn't… not with him. Her thoughts spun out of control, just like her hormones. God what was he-_

 _He dropped her lock of hair and leaned back against his seat, smirking. "I think everyone would believe that. You did, didn't you? Just for a second?"_

 _Her hand flew up to slap him, but he grabbed it like he'd been expecting it. "Two more weeks. It won't even take that long. Lover boy Mitch only needs to see you and me do that once, and he's yours. All yours."_

 _"You're such a-" he was still hold her hand though he'd loosened his grip._

 _"Jackass. I know. But let me pretend to be your jackass boyfriend and we'll both get what we want."_

 _Everything in her screamed no, but when she finally opened her mouth, the world that fell out was "Okay."_

 _Heaven help her, even after everything that happened in the last week. She was going to let this continue. Only now she wasn't so sure she wanted Mitch to care anymore. Secretly she just wanted more time with Michael._

 _-Chapter 7, Crashing Into You by Jabriella_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Going forward, there might be a delay in my next fanfic's release. These last two months have been a lot of wedding planning and meeting with vendors in my down time. Because of that I haven't had the opportunity to get as much done as I would usual get done. I promise you guys I am working on it though.**

"How'd I get dragged into your mess?" Chad asked.

"Misery loves company." Troy said as they parked in front of the girl's dorm.

"You're paying for the date."

"Fine." Troy rolled his eyes. "It's not like she's hideous."

Chad lifted his hands in frustration. "No she's not, but she's got these relationship goggles on and I'm not you."

Troy arched his brow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know what I mean." Chad stared at the dorm then back at Troy. "You and Gabi. That's not completely fake anymore is it?"

"Dude." Troy inhaled slowly as he shut off the car. "We haven't even kissed." Which is why he was shocked at how upset he'd became when she mentioned dating another guy after him. He shouldn't have gotten so upset. He shouldn't have left. He hadn't wanted too. The rest of the week had been weird. They were off their usual game.

He didn't like it.

"That makes it worse." Chad shook his head. "You're better off not fighting it," he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You said it yourself. You like her. When was the last time you liked one of the girls you dated?"

Was he crazy. "I've liked all of them."

"No, you wanted them, but you didn't like them."

Troy looked up and let out a low sigh, "Let's just get through this night."

"This is all your fault you know."

Troy let out a laugh as he leaned back in his seat. "It's just a charity event. All I'm asking you to do is escort her and eat dinner with her. We do that almost every night anyway."

"Yeah only this time she's gonna be all dolled up and making eyes at me all night."

"Oh, you poor soul." Troy moved to get out of the car.

They waited outside their dorm room door for a moment after they knocked. Troy leaned against the wall staring out into space. Trying to figure out what he was feeling. About what Chad said back in the car. When had the pretending stop? When had he just started to touching her because he wanted to?

The door opened and Gabriella's face was flushed from laughing at something Taylor must have said. Her lips were shining and she'd done something to make her eyes stand out. She was wearing a black dress. She still looked like the girl next door, but hotter. It would be easy to pull her close tonight with just a little tug. He'd enjoy feeling her pressed up against him, in the perfect position for him to lean down and kiss her.

"Hello gentlemen," Gabriella greeted. "We're ready to be wooed."

Taylor wore a green stunning little number that clung to her features all the way to her hips where the dress fanned out. Looking up at Chad he noticed the suddenly interested arch of his brow. His poor friend didn't stand a chance.

"Hi," Taylor smiled slowly at Chad.

"Hi," Chad voice was a bit raspy. The scene made Troy chuckle silently. Envy wasn't a healthy emotion. And he was happy for his friend, but he also didn't understand why things couldn't be that easy between him and Gabriella.

He hated that the idea bothered him and he hated even more that there was a tiny voice in his head wishing that maybe this could turn into a real date. Deciding to push that voice to the back of his mind for now he approached Gabriella and offer her his arm.

"You look beautiful," he said quietly.

She smiled shyly as she took his arm, "Thanks."

It was nice that whatever seemed to be between them these last two days seemed to fade. "I'm worried I'll do something inappropriate."

"Don't pick your nose and you'll be fine." Troy laughed and so did she. Then she nudged him.

"Seriously. Your world is pretty terrifying."

"Only if you have something to hide," Troy chuckled as they made it outside. "Sharpay will be there, as you know. It might be best if we just ignored her."

Gabriella nodded as she took a deep breath, "Is there anything else I need to know?"

"Smile and nod."

"What?"

"Whenever someone tells you a boring story or brings up something controversial, smile and nod. It makes the other person think you're interested in what they have to say."

"And if I'm not?"

Troy laughed as he looked behind to see Chad and Taylor following behind. "Pretend to be." He said glancing back at her and pulling his keys from his pocket.

"Oh, is that all," Gabriella stopped at the car and he felt her watching him as he opened her car door.

"If someone offers you caviar, tell them you have a shellfish allergy. It taste like dirt covered in salt."

"If it taste so bad then why do people eat it?" she said walking towards him and pausing beside the open door. She smelled good. Really good.

He had no business noticing how she smelled. How had he gotten himself into this mess? Why had he invited her tonight? Why would she want to be with him? At first it was about saving her reputation. But lately, he'd caught glimpses of real emotions. Strange how someone so small could cause so much trouble in his life.

"Because it's expensive, they can afford it, and it makes them feel superior."

That made her smile. And her smile looked amazing tonight. He suddenly want to push her back against the door and taste her smile. He wondered if she wore flavored lip gloss.

"Nice car," Taylor said as her and Chad caught up to them.

"Thanks," Troy nodded his head in her direction then took one good look at Gabriella. "Are we ready?"

"Very." Gabriella said as she got in the car.

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 7. Chapter 7_

 _From: LaurenFan2468_

 _I can't understand how anyone can be disappointed with this story or any of your other stories. I'm really not one of those reviewers who write long reviews, but I actually do enjoy your stories. I look forward to them every update. I've been a viewer of your stories for years now. I would always read them and fall in love with them. You've grown so much as a writer, and I'm so happy that you are still here writing stories. I made the best decision to stay reading your stuff all those years ago._

 _A new review has been posted to your story._

 _Story: Crashing Into You_

 _Chapter: 7. Chapter 7_

 _From: LA BabyxML_

 _I for one love all your stories and think they're all quite unique and individual-I love your writing style and you never fail to pull me into one of your story lines. Thank you for writing so consistently and wonderfully, you'll always have a loyal reader in me._

Gabriella stared out the window Traffic was moving at a good pace, Troy seemed content to drive in silence. Meanwhile Gabriella and Taylor admired the scenery out the window as it went up several socioeconomic levels.

She was happy to at least share this experience with Taylor. Although she knew Troy's advice was useful but she felt less alone.

The houses that lined the road were triple the since of own her family home. She couldn't even imagine what people did with all that space. When they got to the charity event Troy entered through a different path than last time.

"Where are we going?"

"It's customary to valet park at these events." Troy said slowing the car down as they waited in line.

Gabriella frowned as she looked at the half empty parking lot beside them. "Couldn't we park over there like last time?"

"We could," Troy shrugged. "But then we'd miss making an entrance."

"What does that mean?" Taylor asked from the back before Gabriella could.

"Everyone hangs out in the lobby, having wine and hors d'oeuvres, which is an excuse to critique the people coming in." Chad said with a mocking tone.

"At least people like you," Troy said arch his brow to see Chad in the backseat.

Chad let out an exasperated sigh. "They have to like me, my family owns their beloved country club."

"Really?" Taylor asked a little taken aback.

"What happens if they don't like you?" Gabriella asked, alarms going off in her head.

"If they don't approve of someone they make it known." Troy said as he taped his steering wheel.

"Oh," Gabriella looked down at her hands in her lap. For the millionth time she felt in over her head. Then she felt his hand grab hers and hold it. When they finally reached the valet station, Troy sat until the valet opened his door, so she did the same.

She practiced her skill of smiling and nodding as Troy said hello to all the people who greeted him. It reminded her of the receiving line at her cousin's wedding last summer. Except these people were better dressed. By the time they made it into the lobby, her jaw hurt.

"Still alright?"

"I feel undressed," Gabriella looked down at her basic black dress. She should have spent a little more money and got a nicer dress.

"Nonsense," Troy wrapped an arm around her waist bringing her closer. "You look magnificent." He leaned forward pushing her hair back off her neck and gently caressing the skin on her neck. "The urge to kiss you is strong tonight."

Gabriella's stomach flipped and she inhaled sharply at his admission. The thought made her dizzy. Was he going to kiss her? Her breathing escalated. "Are you going to?"

His eyes seem to focus on her and he shifted closer to her. "And if I did?"

Her mouth went bone dry in that instant.

"Look alive, Sharpay is rounding the corner." Taylor warned as she leaned towards them. Effectively shattering whatever tension had been between them.

Troy shifted and adjusted his collar. "Remember, no scenes."

Gabriella nodded. A pit of disappointment settling in her lower abdomen. "I feel like I need a large amount of valium to live your life."

Troy laughed softly and she could tell it was a genuine one from the way his eyes crinkled.

"Hey Troy," Sharpay shifted so Troy could see her dress, or what little there was of it. The red silk sheath resembled a night gown and in Gabriella's opinion made her look a little desperate for attention.

"Hello Sharpay." His voice was polite and dismissive all at once.

"I wanted you to introduce you to my date," Sharpay purred. "You've met Andre, haven't you?"

"I have." Troy held out his hand and did the one pump handshake with a guy who looked like a more aged version of Troy. Andrea had the same coloring and body type. They were even wearing similar suits. Then again, all the guys were wearing dark suits, but still Gabriella was taken by surprise over the whole doppelganger thing.

It was creepy.

Troy placed a hand on the small of her back, bringing her back to the matter at hand. "Andre this is my date, Gabriella."

The copycat Troy nodded his head at me and smiled like he was royalty. She nodded politely as well.

Chad cleared his throat. "If you'll excuse us, I think we're ready to take our seats."

Relieved Gabriella shifted as she let Troy guide her through the crowd. Her thoughts wondering back to the conversation they were having moments before Sharpay walked over. Did this mean he was going to kiss her? Did it mean things were real between them? The last few days had been so weird she had no idea what to think.

Once seated, Taylor and Gabriella were free to gawk at the décor.

"This place is amazing. I can't believe I helped." Gabriella said admiring the centerpiece.

"I still owe you for that," Troy said with a small smile.

"Noted," Gabriella said suddenly feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks.

"How does the food work?" Taylor asked glancing at the food stations.

"Hors d'oeuvres are available for the next half hour. Salads will be served once everyone is seated." Troy stated as if he was a quote from a sacred text.

"For a guy, you know a lot about banquets." Taylor said.

"I've been listening to my mother plan these events for years." Troy said letting out a low sigh.

"Any rules I should know so I don't offend Troy's mom?" Taylor turned towards Chad.

"There are three rules for eating in public." He counted them off on her fingers. "No double dipping. No eating with your fingers, even if it's finger food. No spitting anything out, no matter how disgusting it is."

"Right," Taylor looked back at Gabriella with a joking smile, "We are so not at pizza hut anymore."

They both laughed.

Suddenly Troy stood up and Gabriella recognized his mother as she came to the table standing beside a man who by the strong resemblance must be his father. She stood as well, hoping it looked somewhat graceful instead of a delayed rushed reaction.

"Mom, Dad, this is Gabriella Montez."

"Nice to see you again darling," His mom placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled knowingly. "Nice to see we haven't scared you off yet."

Before she could acknowledge the compliment, Troy's father spoke. "Montez, sound familiar. Do I know your father, what does he do?"

Gabriella swallowed hard. "He owns his owns and operates his own construction business in Chicago." Normally she wouldn't have thrown in the "owned" part, but in this situation she felt like she had to make that point clear.

"Oh." Troy's father managed to put an enormous amount of disdain into one syllable.

"We should take our seats. Dinner will start soon." His mom gave a genuine smile. "Come on."

"It was nice meeting you," Gabriella said as his parents walked away.

"Sorry about that," Troy said helping her back into her chair. "He can be an ass sometimes."

She nodded as she tried to put on her best smile. She really had no idea what had just happened. "It's fine."

"No it's not." Troy shook his head. "I shouldn't have bought you here," he murmured under his breath.

His last comment left her hairs on her neck standing upright. She thought everything was going fine. She thought she'd done everything right… or at least she did up until now.

Chad father spoke that night, and when he finished speaking. Chad started. He asked a series of questions, drawing all four of them into a conversation about unimportant topics during the rest of the meal. He even made Troy laugh. It was apparent that Chad had a future in politics.

"He's really smart," Gabriella said once she and Taylor were able to sneak off to the bathroom.

"And he's super cute." Taylor applied her lip gloss, "Do you think he likes me?"

"I think he's coming around," Gabriella smiled. "He certainly doesn't seem as annoyed as usual." She was happy for her friend. The boy she liked actually seemed to like her back.

"What about you and Troy? Am I sensing full blown relationship potential?"

"No, I mean … no." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "We've never really been anything but friends? We don't even kiss? And that's probably my fault. I told him not to kiss me. He wanted too. But I guess I just don't want there to be any truth to the whole notch on his bedpost rumor. Even if I'm the only one who knows."

Taylor eyes widen, "So that's it. Tonight the end of the deal?"

"I guess," Gabriella said suddenly not all that confident in knowing where she stood after all. "It's not really a big thing."

"Oh Gabi," Taylor said quickly capping her lip gloss. "The night's not over. Maybe he could change his mind."

Gabriella shook her head as she held up a hand stopping Taylor from coming any closer. "It's not just tonight. I thought we were having fun together, and it just seems like he's here only to fill an obligation." She was beginning to feel the strain of emotional whiplash. "Besides we don't exactly have anything in common."

"Gabi?"

"I'm fine with it really. I should break up with him. You got your double date. People aren't whispering behind my back anymore. Or making rude gestures. Really spending any more time pretending is just confusing."

When they met back up with the boys they were waiting by the exit. There seemed to be a bottleneck in the lobby of guest.

"What is this?"

Troy didn't meet her eyes. "People like to socialize on the way out."

"Didn't they socialize enough on the way in?"

"Troy, there you are." His father appeared beside them. "There's someone I want you to meet."

A muscle in Troy's jaw twitched. "Of course, dad." He laid a hand on Gabriella arm softly. "Stick with Chad and Taylor. I should be back in five minutes."

Gabriella nodded. Not sure why she couldn't go with him. Maybe leaving her behind was just an excuse to get back sooner. She liked that train of thought, so she convinced herself that it was the truth. Only half an hour later, she wasn't so sure…

"Where did he say he was going?" Taylor asked holding on to Chad's arm.

"I don't know for sure," Gabriella let out a long breath, "We could call a cab to get back?"

"Haven't you heard of Uber?" Chad asked looking at both of them as if they were insane.

Then she heard his voice followed by a feminine laugh. He emerged from a side hall with a tall red head hanging on his arm. Why was she touching him? Why was he letting her touch him?

He spotted her and rolled his eyes. That helped. When he reached them he said, "Gabriella this is Elizabeth. Her family moved to the area and my father asked me to show her around."

Elizabeth gave her a blinding smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she shifted her eyes back to Troy unsure of what was going on. "I think Taylor and Chad are getting ready to go."

"Thanks again for offering to show me around." Elizabeth nodded with her tooth paste commercial smile.

Troy nodded, "Not a problem."

"Here, let me get you my number," Elizabeth said as she reached into her pocket purse.

Gabriella watched as Troy inhaled and shifted to meet her eyes. He looked genuinely sorry. He also looked tired. As if disappearing for even that short amount of time had aged him somehow.

"Maybe we could get dinner or coffee sometime," she said with a small smile.

She watched Troy's eye widen as he held up a hand to stop her from handing him the number. But when he opened his mouth nothing happened. And that was when she understood. He couldn't be rude to his father new friends. He was trying to please his father.

Alright. Enough was enough.

"Did you just try to make a date with my boyfriend right in front of me?"

Elizabeth went bright red. "Oh my God. I am so sorry." She took a step away from Troy, crumpling her phone number in her hand. "Your father made it seem as through you were available and I-"

"Please stop talking." Gabriella crossed her arms. Turning to Troy she took a calming breath. "Let's go."

"Alright, I'll take you home." Troy nodded placing a hand on Elizabeth shoulder. "Don't worry about the misunderstanding. No harm done. I'm sure we'll see each other again at some event or another. Friendly faces are rare around here."

She nodded, still a bit flushed.

That was when they heard another voice and Gabriella turned to see Troy's dad clapping another man on the shoulder. "I knew my son and your daughter would hit it off."

"Yes they do make a lovely couple." Elizabeth father seemed to be pleased. "What are you two doing tomorrow?"

 _Hello._ Now was the time she expect Troy to jump in and explain the misunderstanding. His father knew she was here with him. What kind of crap was he trying to pull?

"We haven't made firm plans yet," Troy said with a sign as he remained frozen in his spot.

Gabriella shifted as she looked at him then at Troy's father. "Excuse me?"

"Could we not do this here?" Troy sounded annoyed as his eyes shifted to her.

Gabriella arms uncrossed. "I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but I need to know what is going on here."

He looked as frustrated as she felt. "What do you want me to do?"

"Man up and make a choice." She was tired of second guessing herself. Either Troy was going to be her boyfriend or he wasn't. Either way, she'd survive. "Consider our deal over and make a choice."

He didn't say he wanted to keep dating her. He didn't say he wanted to date her but see other people. He didn't say a word. He blinked and stared. And there was her answer. Fighting the urge to tell him what a wuss he was, she nodded. "Fine. It's over then. Have a nice life."

 _Author's Note: To all the wonderful and fabulous words of encouragement from the last week, thank you SO much._ _I learned a lot about myself in the last two weeks. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have._

 _I think it's important to know that these stories in the past have been written by two people. My best friend Jenny and I use to work together on bringing these stories to you. Two weeks ago, Jenny died. She had Chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis is one of a group of diseases that fall under the name chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We knew for a while that she wasn't going to survive, but that never makes it easier to lose a loved one. Personally, the hardest part wasn't losing her. It was learning how to live without her._

 _Jenny was always the braver one. She wasn't afraid to make our characters bold and daring. She never read reviews or agonized over trying to please every single one of you. That part she always left to me. She told me that she always thought writing the story gave her just a little bit of reason to keep going. She always excited to work on our stories, always eager to get the things in her head out on to the paper. Jenny loved storytelling just as much as I did._

 _My name is Gabriella. I'll be writing the stories from now on, each one dedicated to her memory. I love to write. I didn't get into this because I wanted to win awards or be the next J.K. Rowling. I only wanted to have a conversation with the reader. And here I am. Conversing with you._

 _It might take me a story or two before I get the hang of all this but I promise you I will._

Troy sat on his room with his back against the wall. He couldn't get the image of Gabriella leaving out of his head. He couldn't believe it. She'd broken up with him. He knew that was the deal, but he hadn't seen it coming. He stood there waiting for the sense of relief that he anticipated. It never came. In its place was a sense of uneasiness, like he'd made a decision he would live to regret. But that was ridiculous. He'd only known her for two weeks. They never even kissed.

He thought of Elizabeth. How much easier his life would be if he started something with her. Red hair, perfect makeup, an amazing body. What else was there?

A lot. There was a lot.

His father had nodded in approval, a sight he rarely saw in his life. He hated that it mattered to him. That he craved his approval so much he'd give up whatever it took to have it. To maintain it, and keep the peace in his house all he had to do was date a girl like Elizabeth. Was that such a hardship? Dating someone who looked like a bikini model?

Troy hated the judgement he'd seen on Gabriella's face. Hated that she told him to make a choice and he'd been so stunned he'd said nothing at all.

His head shifted backwards and he let it thud against the all. If he was smart he'd let her go her way and he'd goes his.

There was a knock at the door and he had an insane hope that it might be Gabriella only when he opened the door it was his father.

"Where have you been?" he asked. "I've been calling."

"Can we do this another time?" He didn't have it in him to play nice and act respectful.

"No, this can't wait. Explain yourself." His father pushed the door open further and entered his room. Propping his hands on his hips and stopping when he noticed the mechanical golf club on Troy's desk.

"What is that?"

"Just something I'm tinkering with, no big deal."

"I see and is that why you grades are slipping?" He picked up the club and let it fall without a second thought.

"My grades aren't slipping." Troy said feeling a jolt of angry spring up in him as he watched the trigger feather pop off of the club. He'd worked on that for a week. He should have sealed that compartment.

"American Sign Language. I told you not to waste your time. If Megan keeps coddling that boy he'll never be able to cure himself."

"Autism is not something you cure yourself of."

"Where is this tone coming from?" His father lifted a finger at him. "And how could you leave Elizabeth standing there like that? It was rude and irresponsible."

"I wasn't rude to Elizabeth. You were rude to Gabriella. You knew I was with her, but you tried to set me up with one of your friend's daughters instead. Why did you do that?"

"Elizabeth is a better fit for you. Sharpay was a good fit for you. You have far more in common with those girls then you do with that girl you brought with you. Now, you are going to call her and apologize and then we'll all have brunch at the country club tomorrow."

"No. I'm sure she's a nice girl, but she isn't who I want to date. I'm sorry if that doesn't fit your social plan. No matter who I date, you will never be at the top of the food chain at the country club. Chad's family has more money than half the other member combined. Deal with it and stop using me to work your way up the ladder."

That what he should have said last night.

His father's eyes narrowed. "And why do you think you're friends with Chad."

What a stupid question. "Because I like him."

"No. since you were an infant I networked with his father, making sure you were involved in all the same activities so that when you grew up you'd be friends."

Unbelievable. "Since I was born, you've used me to network with his family?"

"Yes. And it's worked, which is why you need to listen to me and do as I say. Date Elizabeth. Act like the perfect gentleman when you're with her. I don't care if you want to see this Isabella person in your spare time, but everyone needs to think you and Elizabeth are the perfect couple."

"Her name is Gabriella. And she an incredible girl."

"She's a nobody. Enough." His father voice held sharp tone. "You will date Elizabeth or some other girl with the same pedigree and you will do so with a smile on your face."

"No. I won't." Troy walked around his father and through the door not even bothering to close it behind him.

"Troy get back here, this instant."

"Go to hell."

Sunday morning, she laid in her bed staring at her phone. Willing it to ring. Wishing for it to be Troy. What would he do if she called him? What would she say? There was nothing to say.

She took a deep breath and blew it out. She needed coffee and maybe an entire bag of powered-sugar doughnuts. That would make the world seem like a better place.

"I thought you might need these," Taylor came though there door with a box of doughnuts.

"Thank God." Gabriella sat up and reached out for the box. It was unusual for Taylor to be so quiet. She must be waiting for her to start Troy bashing. "Can you believe Troy turned out to be so spineless?"

"No. And I don't get it. Why would he let his dad push him around like that?" Taylor opened the box and pulled out a doughnut before handing it over.

"Well, his dad is a certified asshole, but Troy should have stood up for me. At least done something."

"Damn right he should have."

"So how was your night?" Gabriella smirked, "Better than mine I suppose."

"We don't have to talk about that." Taylor shifted as climbed up onto Gabriella's bed to get more comfortable beside her.

"Yes we do." Gabriella frowned as she lifted a doughnut. "I need good news. I'm at risk of eating three boxes of doughnuts before noon."

"Alright," Taylor said reaching into the box for another doughnut. "Well, Chad is nothing like how I imaged he be."

"Neither was Troy." Gabriella shrugged.

"That so weird to me," Taylor said using her fingers to tear her doughnut apart. "I thought for country club guys they would be …"

"Stuck up and spoiled."

Taylor let out a laugh, "exactly."

Gabriella shook her head, "Their surprisingly normal."

"As normal as you can be for people who are filthy rich." Taylor let out a sigh, "He took me to this gala, so that we could just hang out and we talked all about our ambitions. He's totally on track for politics and he's so nice. And so cute. And such an amazing kisser!" Taylor added the last one with a deep exhale.

Gabriella popped another piece of doughnut into her mouth. "I can't believe I dated Troy Bolton for two weeks and I got out of it was a box of doughnuts."

"Oh," Taylor laughed, "Is that all?"

Gabriella let out a low sigh, "I don't know."

Taylor was quiet for a moment before looking up at her. "Are you really going to be okay?"

Sure, she was great wasn't she? She knew what was going to happen. She always assumed the whole fiasco was doomed from the start. It was time for Gabriella to suck it up. To put on her big-girl panties, and get back to her real life. A life where she could have a real boyfriend, if she wanted one. But none of them would be like Troy.

Taylor was waiting for an answer. "I'm good. I mean, I'll miss Troy but I'll still see him in class and I still owe him tutoring. So it's not like we're just never gonna see each other again."

By midafternoon she decided to get out of her pajamas. Taylor joined her in the library where they studies and drank Coffee. People walked by, some pointed, some whispered. Some people even laughed.

"Is it me," Taylor said, "or do people seem to be staring at us?"

People had probably heard that she'd dumped Troy. And for the first time in a long time she didn't care. "Who gives a fic?" she muttered as she opened her lap top. "It's my new life motto."

"I'm going to go get a refill," Taylor said as she stood up. "Want anything?"

"I'm alright." She nodded as she watched Taylor walk off towards the service counter. She then turned her attention back to her laptop. To the words on the screen. "Come on Gabi, what happens next?" she whispered to herself.

She was working on a tricky scene, Lauren and Michael were arguing about whether or not they should go to a party together, and whether Mitch or Alyssa would be there. It was all supposed to be very funny and romantic and thoughtful, which was normally Jenny's thing.

She been doing alright, but now she was stuck. Her thoughts traveled back to having lunch with Troy. The way he was so supportive without a second thought. He'd know what to say to right now. It had been nice to have that.

Maybe they still could have that. _Urg._ For now she had to stop thinking about him. Dropping her head to the surface of the table she let out a sigh. Dear god she could even smell him again if she concentrated.

"Writers block?"

Her eyes flew open and lifted her face off the table. _Dear God she could hear him too?_ She panicked and turned towards his voice to find a very real Troy. "Troy?"

"Hey." He had his messenger bag slung over his shoulder. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

She started at him openmouthed. _Say something. "_ Taylor's coming back."

"That's alright," he pulled out the seat next to her and sat down. "We need to talk about Friday night."

"I'm sorry if I made a scene." She blurted. "I thought you needed an out. You looked like you needed one."

"Don't be sorry." He placed his hands on the table, both of them sitting in tense silence. "How is writing?"

"Painful." Gabriella admitted as she stared at her laptop. "My characters want to be together but they can't get over the conflict."

Troy nodded and she reached out to touch her keyboard. Hoping maybe it would inspire her to say something. "Tell me that I didn't completely blow it with you?"

"What do mean?" finding her voice she started at him in suspicion.

"I like you. I like you a lot." Troy reached out his hand to take hers in his. "I know you wanted me to make a choice that night. I know I was a massive idiot for not making the right one."

She stared at him not really sure what else to do.

"Look, I practically told my dad to shove it. I know it was a little late but I much rather date you than a girl like you or someone my father thinks matched my pedigree."

"Pedigree?"

Troy let out a low sigh, "Remember when you said my world was terrifying."

She nodded.

"It would be even more terrifying if I had to live in it without you."

"We hardly know each other," Gabriella heard herself mumble.

Troy smiled, "I think I know enough."

She was about to say something but he grabbed her hand and lifted her into a standing position. He balanced his palms against the sides of her face, the blue in his eyes warmed, his touch warmed. Troy opened his lips and brought them to hers slowly, hovering there, his breath fanning her face. "I mean it."

He pressed his lips open slightly, driving his tongue against them and gliding it against hers until it was in her mouth, sliding against her tongue. Tongue! She'd known this was how people kissed but never understood the reasoning. Tongues were for tasting, for talking. But now she knew that they were for this.

Having their mouths connected, Gabriella mirroring each move Troy made, created a chemical reaction, flipped a switch. She suddenly knew exactly what to do. Her hands were on his broad chest, running down his tight stomach, his covetable abs. His tongue dipped with hers, his mouth was warm and frim and perfect.

"Wow," she managed when they came up for air.

"So what's your answer?" he asked quietly, "And in case you're confused, the only acceptable answer is yes." He added with a cocky but adorable grin.

Gabriella let out breathless laugh as she came to meet his eyes. "Yes."

"Oh my god." Taylor's voice squealed behind them and Troy chuckled as he reached for her again, his lips crashing down onto hers.

The crowd erupted into applause and cat calls. If anyone had doubted their relationship before they couldn't doubt it now.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **Today I am so sad. So sad because this story is ending and so sad because I am nowhere near ready to launch my next story. Wedding planning has taken over my life these last two months. Good news we have: The venue, the cake, the cratering, photographer, officiant, my dress, and hopefully after this upcoming weekend a DJ and the flowers.**_

 _ **I am going out of town for Christmas, going to see mom and dad for the first time since they left to Arizona in October of last year. My first snowless Christmas … so weird. I hope that since most of the major wedding planning is done, I'll be able to work more on my next story. I know everyone is going to love this one!**_

 _ **Until next story, I'll miss you all terribly. Happy Holidays!**_

"Dad," Gabriella came out into the yard with a tray of lemonade. "Please don't scare him."

"Nonsense," Her father was admiring Troy's blue prints for his senior thesis. "I'm just saying he has a lot of potential."

His own father was still having issues with his new major, he also wasn't two thrilled about Troy staying another year to complete his engineering degree. Luckily he'd had his mother and sister on his side. Together they helped Troy father see what really made Troy happy and that his hobby could actually be a career. One that was just as promising as a law degree.

In the year that she been dating Troy she rarely saw his father. The few times they had been in his presence Troy had made it clear that no matter what his father said, he was finally doing what he wanted to do.

"The club could actually be fit virtually any golfer." Troy said point at the bottom of the club. "The unique hinged-hosel design would allow this club to "lie" in a more flat position than conventional golf clubs."

"I see that," Her father adjusted his reading glasses as he examined the numbers. "Let me get my tool box I think I have an idea for the hinge."

When her father left the yard to head back inside Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Well now you've done it. Once he pulls out his tool box he's invested. We'll never meet up with Chad and Taylor later."

Troy laughed as reached for her and pulled him into her lap, "They'll be fine. Where's your brother?"

"He's inside playing Battlefield."

"Sounds like we should be making out," Troy smiled as he brought his hand up to her cheek.

"Troy," she scowled with a smile. "I told you no monkey business."

Troy shifted and his lips were on hers and she relaxed into him.

"How's your story coming along?" he asked when he pulled away.

"I broke them up and I can't figure out how to get them back together. They're being stubborn."

Troy made a face. "Are you sure it's them and not you being stubborn."

"It's them," she shifted so she could get up. "I mean can you blame Lauren for being a little cautious. She just had her heart ripped out and fed to her. She's gonna need time to get over that."

Troy shook his head, "why not just have Michael admit he was wrong."

"Because he's not that kind of guy."

"Then just kill him off."

"My readers would kill me."

"Then why doesn't Lauren-"

"Hush," Gabriella lifted her hands to her temple. "A plot line as delicate as this requires lots and lots of chick flicks and chocolate to figure out."

"I am not watching _Bridget Jones's Diary_ again."

"How about _You Got Mail_?"

Troy head fell back as he let out a low sigh. After a moment he lifted his head again and smiled. "Fine, but only if we can watch Resident Evil."

"Deal." Gabriella smiled as she leaned in, craving his lips one more time.

"Hey," he scolded lightly, pulling away. "No monkey business young lady."

"Shut up and kiss me."

The end.


End file.
